Gobtron [$1.99] from Juicy Beast Studio started out as a Flash game a few years ago, and last week an iOS port made its way into the App Store. Gobtron is a type of castle defense game where you play as a gigantic pink monster who must fend off puny human attackers throughout 5 ages of history. The interesting thing is how the Gobtron goes about defending himself, primarily using a string of snot from his nose but also utilizing other bodily functions for additional attack types. It's a bit on the gross side but done in a lighthearted way, and Gobtron actually offers some pretty fun gameplay with its unique control mechanics and weapon upgrade system.

Gobtron takes place over 18 levels in 5 eras, starting out in the Stone Age and moving to Ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, modern-day military, and finally a futuristic age. In each level enemies will approach the base of the massive Gobtron in waves, feebly attacking with their weapons which chip away at his health meter. The enemies' attacks start out as small spears and rocks in the stone age, and evolve into more deadly weapons like guns, aircraft, and ground-based vehicles.

Gobtron deals with these enemies by flicking his snot at them like a whip, which sucks them up into his nose. This is accomplished by dragging a hanging booger upwards with your finger and letting it go, slingshotting it down and splatting on the enemies. It's crude but intuitive, and it's really fun to nail a group of enemies with a well placed snot sling. As you progress new weapons become available like a booger bomb, a defensive saliva wall, and a belch attack which inflicts damage to everyone on the screen.

Upon completion of each level DNA points area awarded which act as currency for upgrading your bodily offense. Each attack, as well as your health meter, can be upgraded several times. There's even a special fart attack which can be unlocked after maxing out the rest of your moves. That's right, a fart attack. It may be crude, but the upgrading aspect is engaging and the unique mechanics of performing your attacks works well with the touch screen. There's just something really fun about growing your Gobtron stronger to take on the increasingly difficult swarms of enemies.

The somewhat gross subject matter of Gobtron is toned down by the cute and colorful graphics in the game. Gobtron himself is just a big, dumb, pink monster who is adorable in his own way. My biggest criticism of Gobtron is that it's a fairly easy game overall, and I completed every level on the first try which didn't take much more than an hour. It's a fun time, but some reason to come back to the game after completion, like an endless mode or leaderboards, would be a nice addition. Gobtron does use OpenFeint and Game Center for achievements, but unfortunately my completed achievements failed to unlock on the Game Center side of things.

Gobtron is one of those games that could be recommended just based on the weirdness factor alone, but it's also a unique take on a defense game and is really pretty fun anyway. It's a bit too short and light on content, but what's here is worth playing if you can deal with the low brow nature of the game. There's further impressions in our forums, or you can check out the Flash version which is nearly identical, but if you're looking for an interesting take on castle defense with silly graphics and crude humor then Gobtron is worth checking out.

Smuggle Truck has been pouring sand in conservatives' boxer shorts for a time now, but the game and its… questionable sensibilities won't be restricted from release on the App Store. In fact, Smuggle Truck is in the approval phase right now, meaning release and word of an actual launch date are on the horizon. Neat!

We connected with co-creator Alex Schwartz earlier this afternoon about this revelation and he had a little bit more to share. Specifically, he dropped us some details about the game's forthcoming update, which is slated to hit about two weeks after launch. Schwartz confirmed to us that this first update is set to add "full level editor" to the iPad version in addition to "online uploading of custom levels, as well as an entire custom level lobby which allows players to download, rate, and play thousands of user generated levels on both iPhone and iPad," he said.

And if those new screens and our previous coverage of the curious title isn't enough to catch your interest, you can always check out a Web demo version of the title, which�conveniently, has just been updated with [correction] new levels.

Below is the first promotional teaser for Fast Five: The Movie: Official Game, the official tie-in to "Fast Five: The Movie," a film that will surely earn a place amongst the two greatest films of all time: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Gigli." High praise in advance of an actual viewing, I know, but look at its cast for a minute � Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on-screen at the same time? Sounds like Oscar material to me.

Oh, wow, you're still with me. Here's the low-down: Fast Five: The Movie: Official Game is a racing game slated to the App Store on April 28, a day before the movie it's based on hits theaters. In the game, you'll play as the film series' returning protagonist, Brian O'Conner. O'Conner is a dude who, apparently, needs to race in exotic places in order to… well, er… whatever. Dude just needs to race, OK? �Oh, and blow things up. As you saw, there, this game has an interesting real-time destruction mechanic that you can trigger, presumably, by doing stunts and racing well.

In case you were wondering why Fast Five: The Movie: Official Game looks so much like the racing title Split Second [$4.99 / HD] (right down to its usage of buttons to activate real-time world devastation events), it's because Gameloft is behind the wheel of the project. These are the same guys who have been "borrowing" core mechanics and concepts from other titles like, say, Zelda or Uncharted or Halo, etc., etc.

Come later this April, if you want a taste of Fast Five: The Game, it may just be wiser to have a friend blindfold you, re-assign all the buttons on a version of Split Second, and then hand you a controller just as a race starts. Am I being too negative here? Probably! We'll see!

I'm not as learned about The 7th Guest [$2.99 / HD], or as much of a fan of the iOS port as Fearless Leader Eli "7th Guest" Hodapp, but even I'm stoked about this latest shred of news relating to the fabled puzzle game: Trilobyte, the studio behind the original game and its well-received touch-based port, is doing an iPad spin-off called The 7th Guest: Infection, a title solely based around the ridiculous-hard microscope puzzle that had to be cut from the port of The 7th Guest when it came to iOS earlier in 2010.

The microscope puzzle earned its "maddening" descriptor because it was � and still holds up as � one of the most convoluted and stressing game puzzles of all time. And since Infection is based around this very puzzle, I'll go ahead and let Trilobyte do the describing of the game and its mechanics. See if you can follow! It's fun, I swear!

Infection is a strategy board game designed to be played by the user against the AI engine; or, by two players. The 7�7 square grid, featuring layers of animated microbial action, is divided into 7 columns and 7 rows of consecutive cells. The object of the game is to make your microbes a majority on the board at the end of the game, by infecting and converting as many of your opponent's microbes as possible…

During their turn, players move one of their microbes either one or two spaces in any direction. Diagonal distances are equivalent to orthogonal distances, e.g. it is legal to move to a cell whose relative position is two squares away both vertically and horizontally. If the destination is adjacent to the source, a new microbe is created on the empty departure square. Otherwise the microbe on the source moves to the destination. After the move, all of the opponent player's microbes adjacent to the destination cell are converted to the color of the moving player. Players must move unless no legal move is possible, in which case they must pass.

The game is over when every cell has been covered or all the microbes are gone. Now, if you're still interested, here's a couple more fun details: Infection will feature Game Center, a brand new soundtrack, and, hey, seven difficulty levels if you, somehow, manage to get bored by the "normal" AI.

Trilobyte tells us that Infection will premiere at $2.99. Speaking of that, the game should crop up on the App Store in the very near future � it's in approval as you read this.

Someone is listening when I pray. The other afternoon, 2D Boy flung some awesome news one the Internet, confirming that World of Goo [$4.99] is indeed coming to the iPod Touch and iPhone, And it's coming, like, real soon, according to a post on studio's blog that explains, additionally, that the title is worming its way through Apple's approval process at the moment.

Before you get all stupid-happy, check what generation your device is. In the reveal post, 2D Boy warns that World of Goo will require 3GS or better, or in iPod Touch terms, a 3rd Generation Touch or newer. Certainly, this design decision will cut a few of you out of the�fun, but I'm sure it's all for the better, as World of Goo will be poised to remain a visual treat in addition to being a great physics-based puzzle game. Oh, and if you already have the iPad version you'll get this for free. World of Goo will become a Universal App.

As for price, you're looking at standard premium-ish pricing: 2D Boy has gone on record stating that the game will be sold at $2.99 in the US. HOWEVER, for the first 24 hours, the studio will submit to the race to the bottom mentality and price the title at a measly 99 cents, or the same price you pay for a succulent McDonald's cheeseburger.

I haven't seen this version yet, but it's hard to imagine it'll be a mediocre offering. The iPad version blew my and my fellow staffs' minds in regards to how well it was catered to the touch tablet, so chances are that this version will cater to the smaller devices seems good. We'll let you know, for sure.

Last week, Chillingo released a new gameplay video for their upcoming game Vampire Rush. Vampire Rush is a hack 'n slash dungeon crawler with tower defense elements, not completely unlike the previously released Dungeon Defenders [99�]. The difference here, it seems by the video, is that Vampire Rush looks far less complicated and cluttered, which probably bodes well for a mobile title. The artwork is very colorful, which is a nice change from the drab colors that usually make up games of this ilk. Take a look at the video and see for yourself:

Vampire Rush is developed by A-steroids and was released for Samsung phones last October to positive reviews. A-steroids had planned on having an iOS port released this past January, although obviously that date has come and gone. The good news is that the extra development time is going towards making Vampire Rush more than just a simple port of the Samsung version, and should include additional content and enhancements. Also, it's probably worth noting that despite the vaguely similar style, Vampire Rush doesn't appear to have anything to do with Chillingo's previously released�Vampire Origins [99�/Lite/HD].

There's no solid release date yet, but with Chillingo jumping in to publish the title and releasing this video, I can only hope that this means it's right around the corner. There's a discussion for Vampire Rush taking place in our upcoming games forum, and we'll keep our eye out for any new information on this title.