All of my two-wheel racing experience resides in that one Moto GP game that came on the Xbox Live demo disc. Because I couldn't compete, I drove backwards around the tracks while making funny noises over the microphone. I'm not so sure that I'll be able to rekindle those times in Polish developer Vivid Games' Speedway GP 2011 for iOS, but it sure does look like a sharp title that strokes all the right notes of a proper simulation racing game.

That was all build-up to get to the point of telling you that Vivid shot us over some fresh images of the racing title. Also, I wanted to give you a release date: August 25th for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad.

As its namesake implies, Speedway GP 2011 is a BSI Speeday game, kinda like how Madden is an NFL game. It'll launch with, as you see, some pretty hot visuals and, of course, realistic physics. The craziest thing I've learned so far while checking out the pre-release intel is that these racers don't use brakes, nor will you be able to. Yeah, I know. Wild!

Speedway GP 2011 will also launch with 11 stadiums, a "full roster of statistics" and real-time stat-tracking of the Speedway Grand Prix. There's another app on the App Store that appears to have your back on that, too, if you're especially interested.

Stay tuned for some more in-depth coverage as the game races (huh, huh!?) to the App Store a little later next month.

Excuse the e-drool, but we're quickly falling in love with the concepts behind Namco Bandai's forthcoming Doodle Jump-ish vertical-scrolling platformer, Heli-Awesome. In addition to rocking a fascinatingly beautiful title, the game can boast the following features: spiders with helicopter hats, worms with helicopter hats, a colorful hand drawn-looking world, big and vibrant balls, and even floating pigs.

It's like Namco Bandai broke into our skulls (or something), pillaged them, and then spit out our feverish video game ideas / dreams into a single title. Thanks, guys!

If you're interested in hearing some spectacularly light specifics, I can satisfy those interests. Namco has told us that the game will launch this Thursday, July 27, with several levels to play in, as well as variety to characters to control. It'll also be able to boast both Game Center and Open Feint support for all your service-based needs. Yep. That's all we know at the moment.

But, obviously, we'll be keeping our eyes on this one as it releases this Thursday. You'll be able to grab it at $.99, which seems like a steal for a game that has spiders that wear helicopter helmets on their butts. I mean, really. What a great idea.

A free version of everyone's favorite view-locked, Space Invader-y shooter starting a raptor with spider legs, Velocispider [$.99], is getting a free version soon. Creator Retro Dreamer blogged about it earlier this afternoon, announcing that it's currently traveling through Apple's certification bowels. This free version will include all of the content of the paid, premium version with the exception that it's free-to-play.

This means that it'll feature all the same levels and the Game Center achievements functionality that was just added in an update a few days ago. It won't, however, share Game Center leader boards with its other iteration � according to Retro, the service doesn't allow for that kind of connectivity.

You know how we said that we'd love to get our hands on more iCade titles? Well, both of these versions will support iCade in the future. Velocispider Zero will right out of the box, while the premium version will receive its own support in an update that's currently clearing certification. Neat!

Velocispider is an exceedingly awesome game, so definitely check out our review if you're interested in the game, or hey, just the concept behind it. And really, who isn't?

The most recent update to�Two Worlds II Castle Defense [$4.99 / Lite/�HD / HD�Lite] for the iPad is as curious as the fact that the game is even receiving updates, considering that it's a weak tie-in title for a niche, PC-focused RPG series. But anyway, the overhead strategy game has just received head-tracking by the way of the iPad 2's front-facing camera. According to a press release, the title now recognizes the position of your 'eyes' and changes the perspective of the in-game camera accordingly.

The example that's being throw around for its application are, simply, corners. Apparently, you'll now be able to see around them � if you're playing the game with an iPad 2 and move around your head as the tracking demands.

"Right now we are adapting the system for more platforms like PC or Mac and will also present some challenging 3D surprises within the next couple of months," TopWare Interactive's CEO, Dirk Hassinger, said in a statement.

This update is, of course, free, but this technology support has even been added to the Lite version of the title. So, if you want to give it a spin and haven't taken the plunge, you can for the price of $0, which seems fair. I'd also like to add that we're now one or two steps closer to Judgement Day.

[Via Joystiq]

One of our favorite object avoidance games, Chaotic Boxes' spectacularly flashy Silverfish [$1.99], is set to be released in HD on the iPad this Thursday, July 28. This new version of the game, dubbed Silverfish Max, will include all the content of the iPhone version we liked quite a bit, but it will also boast a new thing: iCade controller support.

Provided the implementation of the support is sound, the iCade controls should really pump up the experience. Silverfish is a super colorful, psychedelic, hectic, and particle-effect-laden game, just like one of its obvious inspiration, the Geometry Wars series, is as well. And like those games from their now-shuttered developer, Silverfish requires precision and speed, which is something a joystick easily provides.

But, hey, your fingers should work fine, too, if the previous game can be used as an indication of potential quality. This is the second title we've covered in as many days that has included iCade support. Hopefully, this is a trend. We need more quality titles for our fake little (and expensive) arcade machines.

It's been almost a year since we looked at Neuroshima Hex [$4.99], Big Daddy's Creations first board game adaptation for iOS. Now they're back with a new hex-based board game adaptation, Army of Frogs [$1.99 / Universal HD).

If you're not familiar with the original board game, you won't be as completely lost as you might have been with Neuroshima Hex. Army of Frogs has a relatively simple ruleset. The goal is to claim territory for your color's frogs. To win, you need to string at least 7 of your frogs together, leaving no loners behind. Your competitors, 1-3 human or AI players, are trying to do the same, and they're also trying to block you from succeeding.

Each turn you can move a frog of your own, jumping as many times as you'd like in a straight line to the next free space. After that, you need to place one of two randomly selected frogs on the board. It might be yours, in which case you'll try to place it somewhere you can easily jump it to your others, or it might belong to an opponent. Then it's your job to try to place it so it can't reach its brethren.

Unfortunately, like it's older sibling Army of Frogs does a fairly poor job of introducing those rules and goals. The game includes a lot of documentation, but a playable tutorial would do a much better job. As it is, expect to flounder around for your first few games while you sort out exactly what you can and can't do, and then re-read the manual to fine-tune the details.

Once you work all that out, Army of Frogs is a lot of fun. If you have someone (or someones) to play with locally, it's a blast. Games are short but sweet, and strategic without being bogged down with complicated rules. If you don't have anyone to play with locally, you're in a bit of a bind. You can play with AI, but victories feel a bit hollow with no overarching campaign. There are Game Center achievements for beating the AI opponents, but they're quick to burn through.

You can also play online, but here Big Daddy's Creations really dropped the ball. The player base isn't yet large enough to find a game quickly, so most people start games and leave them idling while they fill. Since the game currently lacks push notifications for turns, this means most online games never actually get off the ground. I bet it will be a lot of fun to play with three other players online, but I can't say for sure. I'm still waiting for my turn to come around in every game I've joined.

Given a few tweaks, Army of Frogs could be well worth the price of admission. Until then, though, I'd caution you to only hop in if you've got someone local to play with. You'll find a well-designed game that's a lot of fun to play -- but the pond is awful lonely if you go it alone.

Street Fighter IV Volt [$6.99] launched back in June and although it played strikingly similar to Capcom's original Street Fighter IV [$4.99] on iOS, it did contain a few significant upgrades. Namely, it featured every character from the original as well as 3 new fighters and competitive online play via Game Center. We really loved the first Street Fighter IV so it wasn't surprising that we enjoyed the enhanced Street Fighter IV Volt even more in our review.

Capcom fed a pretty steady stream of new characters and features to the original Street Fighter IV, and their new iteration is gearing up to start off on that same foot. According to Andriasang and 4Gamer.net, the first set of new characters for Street Fighter IV Volt will be a pair of female fighters, Sakura and Makoto. Sakura is a long time favorite from back in the Alpha series, and Makoto first appeared in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and made a triumphant return in last year's Super Street Fighter IV on consoles.

There are plenty more screens of both Sakura and Makoto over at Andriasang.com, and as for what may be coming in future updates some enterprising members in our forums may have a lead on that as well. After digging around through some of the game files in Street Fighter IV Volt, they have come across a character list that includes every character already in the game plus Sakura and Makoto, and has spots for Evil Ryu and Fei Long too. This doesn't necessarily confirm those characters are coming, but it sure is a strong possibility.

There is also another character in Street Fighter IV Volt that was conspicuously absent from the original game, the long time fan favorite Akuma. You fight Akuma as a second boss character after M. Bison in arcade mode, assuming you don't lose a single round along the way. You can unlock Akuma as a playable character by playing and beating him with every character in Arcade mode or by playing 100 matches online, both potentially time consuming endeavors.

If you want to bypass all that, then there is a very easy way to unlock Akuma if you already have the original Street Fighter IV installed on your device. Simply fire up Arcade mode in Street Fighter IV Volt and at the character select screen tap on the characters in the following order: starting at Ryu, select Abel, Guile, Cammy, then end back on Ryu. Pause for about a second at each character, and when you return back to Ryu tap on him again to reveal Akuma, who will stay unlocked permanently at the character select screen from now on.

Unfortunately, my dodgy Google translating of the articles didn't divulge a release date for the Sakura and Makoto update, but we'll keep our eye out for it and let you know when it hits.

[Via 4Gamer.net and Andriasang]

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If you'd told me that an iOS game about a pig with seasonal allergies and the monsters that love to eat his boogers would top my list of most charming games on the platform, I'd have laughed in your face. Then I had a chance to get hands-on with Gesundheit! just a few days before its release. Whaddya know, mucus can be charming after all.

I'm not a big fan of gross-out humor, but that's only a small part of what makes Gesundheit! stand out. For starters, it's completely gorgeous. The hand-drawn art style you can see in the screenshots is consistent throughout every level, cutscene and map. The game also sounds fantastic. The music might just rival Bumpy Road for twee charm, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Of course the gameplay is really where it's at. Gesundheit! is a top-down action puzzler. The goal is to lure all the booger-eating monsters into traps without getting caught � and if they see you, they'll come for you. You move your hay-fever plagued pig around by tapping where you want to him go, and control his sneezes with a billiards-style pull and release. This launches a snot ball, which monsters just can't resist. The whole thing seems super precise, which is helpful when you're running for your little piggy life.

I've only had a chance to play a handful of levels, but the combination of game mechanics works very well so far. There are puzzle aspects, while you figure out how to get the monsters to the trap and how to collect all the starfruit on the way. You also need to be stealthy, keeping out of site of monsters, sneezing and darting quickly out of sight. And you'll need good aim to bounce your snot-balls precisely where you want them. New elements, like teleportation pads and mosquito monsters, are introduced regularly to keep things tricky. I can't wait to see the rest of it.

Gesundheit! has come nearly out of nowhere, being revealed by Konami behind closed doors just last week at San Diego Comic-Con. But it's not exactly brand new. Back in 2008, Gesundheit! emerged at the Independent Games Festival as a student showcase finalist. It went pretty viral as a PC demo, but a full release never made it out the door. When Revolutionary Concepts started working with artist Matt Hammill, they found out about his pet project and collaborated with him to bring it to iOS. Looks like the results are worth the wait � this game feels right at home on a touch screen.

Gesundheit! will be released this Thursday for the introductory price of $0.99 on iPhone and iPod touch, and $1.99 on iPad (3rd gen devices and iOS 3.2 or higher). We'll bring you a full review of this sneezerific charmer once it's out. In the meantime you can join the anticipation in our discussion thread.