In this week's bonus episode of The TouchArcade Show, we speak with Rocketcat Games' Kepa Auwae about Rocketcat's past, present, and future and discuss his studio's action RPG Mage Gauntlet [$2.99] in great detail. Kepa keeps it real the entire time. Dude spills the beans on the studio's plans for a trilogy, a free-to-play spin-off, and what it's probably going to do to improve on the current build of Mage Gauntlet. This was a spectacularly fun conversation, and if you're a fan of Mage Gauntlet, you'll undoubtedly leave it with some excitement.

If you'd like to give us a listen, go ahead and do so via streaming or direct download. You could also subscribe to use on iTunes or Zune to get every new episode the second they hit the Internet. If you ask me, this is the premier way to enjoy your TouchArcade orally.

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iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-Bonus-022.mp3, 25MB

If you've got the time this week, we'd really love to hear your positive feedback on our iTunes reviews page. Also, feel free to fire us an e-mail: podcast@toucharcade.com.

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The mobile division of Nexon Co. is readying an iOS version of their popular free-to-play online first-person shooter Combat Arms. Known as Combat Arms: Zombies, the title has been developed using Unreal Engine 3 and is based off of the zombie themed cooperative Fireteam Mode from the original game. There aren't many details regarding Combat Arms: Zombies at the moment, but Nexon Mobile hints that they are interested in supporting the game post-release until it almost equals the full scale of the original Combat Arms online game.

I've never played Combat Arms, but this Zombies edition sounds like a cooperative survival mode similar to the popular Call of Duty: Zombies [$4.99/HD] that's been a pretty big hit on iOS the past couple of years. The first trailer for the game looks pretty darn impressive, and although it doesn't appear to show any actual gameplay, it does seem that the entire video was rendered using an in-game engine.

Combat Arms: Zombies will first be unveiled in playable form at the G-Star 2011 expo in South Korea on November 10th. The release date is expected sometime shortly after, though nothing specific has been confirmed. We'll of course be keeping our eye out for Combat Arms: Zombies as it gets closer to release, and bring you any new information or media as we get it.

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Retro gamers are about a week out from a true bundle of 8-bit gaming goodness, with a promise of much more to come. On the weekend of October 28th, Elite Systems will be releasing the Elite Collection and Elite Collection HD (for iPad) that bring a dozen 8-bit games to the App Store, and at a week-long introductory price of $0.99.

Last month I spoke with Elite Systems co-founder Steve Wilcox who took me through his studio's plans to bring a great number of notable 8-bit titles from years past to iOS gamers, using a new proprietary technology developed within Elite. This new system, or facilitator, brings these titles to iOS at near 100% accuracy and allows a great degree of control customization thanks to the studio's "iDaptive" control system. Elite's initial move in this effort involved ZX Spectrum-only titles, but it's worth noting that with this new collection, Elite has pushed beyond just the ZX Spectrum platform.

The first wave of titles in the Elite Collection effort arrived at the end of last month in the form of individual, stand-alone titles. The games released were Black Magic, First Samurai, and Enforcer � all in both iPhone and iPad "HD" versions.�The Elite Collection arriving this weekend brings 12 titles in all, as well as an in-app store through which additional games will be made available (and the plan is for over a hundred titles in all).

[ Also see - video links for: Black Magic, Enforcer, First Samurai ]

The bundled titles consist of:

• Elite Collection Vol. #1:
  • featuring ALTERNATE REALITY: THE CITY and also including
  • Black Magic
  • Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
• Elite Collection Vol. #2:
  • featuring URIDIUM and also including
  • Buggy Boy (a.k.a. Speed Buggy)
  • First Samurai
• Elite Collection Vol. #3:
  • featuring BUNDESLIGA MANAGER and also including
  • Denaris
  • Enforcer
• Additional 8-bit "Singles":
  • Battleships (a.k.a. Battleship)
  • Frank Bruno's Boxing
  • Batty

Released simultaneously with the Elite Collection will be the individual, stand-alone titles Alternate Reality: The City, Uridium, and Bundesliga Manager DE, each in both iPhone and iPad "HD" versions at $0.99 each.

Wilcox indicates that Elite will be releasing four volumes of games, each consisting of one to six 8-bit home computer titles, each month. One of the titles soon to be released is a particularly excellent game that's sure to get many readers out there excited: Choplifter! At the time of its initial release, the Elite Collection in-app store is expected to have 13 additional titles available for download. We'll have more on those when the app goes live.

Some prospective additions to the Elite Collection's in-app shop, down the road, are:

• Audiogenic Software Vol. #1 featuring Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
• Free Fall Games Vol. #1 featuring Archon II: Adept
• Geoff Crammond Vol. #1 featuring Stunt Car Racer
• Ozark Softscape Vol. #1 featuring M.U.L.E.

Between their ZX Spectrum-based efforts and these new 8-bit titles, Elite is truly driving a massive campaign that I feel sure most every retro gamer out there can appreciate. We'll keep readers updated as new titles arrive, but in the meantime, enjoy these excellent games from a different time.

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I discovered tower defense late in my gaming career. I have no good justification for this. Perhaps I was too busy burying my face into all the RPGs and sidescrollers I could find. However, my intro game into the genre was PixelJunk Monsters, and if you gotta discover late, it may as well be with one of the genre's best entries. Ever since, I salivate Pavlovian-style every time someone murmurs the words "tower defense," and I had the same reaction when Gem Keeper [$2.99] was mentioned around the Touch Arcade office. I also was digging the fact that NCSoft made it, because I like them and I wanted to see how their skills would translate to iOS.

Like any proper tower defense title, Gem Keeper has plenty of levels to keep your building skills busy. 30 are available in total, and over the course of gameplay you have the ability to earn 14 different towers to use to strategically keep baddies out of your fortress. You'll start slow, with only a basic gunfire tower and a few bombs at your disposal. However, soon enough you'll be slowing em down with sticky goo and firing giant spiked cannonballs. I loved that you had the option to switch between Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty at anytime, even right before you start a level. Gem Keeper doesn't disappoint when it comes to the challenge either, but I'll return to that later.

Everything about the presentation of Gem Keeper has the potential to vault it to the top picks of this genre for iOS. It runs smoothly and has very cute animations, but it still has a mature enough feel that adults won't be turned off by the look of it. It does feature many of the hallmarks of tower defense titles: you'll plant towers to try to ward off waves of enemies, you can upgrade or rip down your towers at anytime, and it increases in difficulty as you progress. However, one thing that it does that is unique is allow you to build towers on sliding rails, so as the waves come by, you can move the towers with a swipe of a finger so they keep getting fired upon. This is an excellent way to keep the player engaged, instead of just sitting there watching to see if what you've built is enough. This extra little bit of action was enough to keep me much more engaged than I am in the usual tower defense title.

The three stages (each has ten levels) are Forest, Ice and Mine, so you'll be able to enjoy different "themes", as they call them. One thing I noticed was that NCSoft actually went out of their way to make the Normal level decently challenging. Usually I zoom through them without a hitch, but by the time I got to the Ice world, I had to replay levels several times each to get a feel for what was coming and what towers had to be built and ripped down at what intervals. The game keeps you busy, and I really enjoyed that. You won't be able to just build a bunch of towers and boost them � you'll need to use your brain to figure out exactly which towers work for what waves and stay on top of building and breaking down; otherwise, you won't pass the level. In other words, it will keep you busy, and is an ideal fit if you want a challenge.

Gem Keeper is simply a stunner in both execution and gameplay, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Whether you plow through the 30 stages of Adventure mode or go for Endless gameplay just to see how many waves you can fend off, this game is lovely to look at and even more fun to play. Tower defense fanatics, beware though � you're about to lose a lot of your free time.

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Halfbrick's marketing wizard and president of Halfbrick Marketing School For The Gifted And Golden-Tongued, Phil Larsen, promised us that more updates to Jetpack Joyride [$.99] were on the way. Again, the magnificent man leaves no room for disappointment. In the latest version of the game, the studio has added two new jetpacks, more costumes, and score-tracking features that'll definitely inspire some ire amongst friends if you rock at joy riding.

To get specific, this update adds the Chrome Plated Afterburner and the Golden Piggy Pack as new additions to the jetpack line-up. Also, you can now dress as "Sensei" from the Fruit Ninja [$0.99 /�HD /�Lite]�series, a silver robot, or even a king in his robes. More importantly, you can now post your scores directly to Twitter and Facebook and enjoy Doodle Jump-style markers in-game that reveal where your friends have croaked. That's actually quite a huge addition, eh?

Jetpack Joyride is still stupid-fun for us. I can't explain it, either. It just has that one, almost indescribable "one more play" appeal. We can't stop. Seriously. Help us.

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Putter King Adventure Golf [99�] is released by Putter King, a company with real indoor miniature golf franchises, so these guys should know how to design a fun and challenging mini-putt experience. We were keen to see how their real-world ideas would translate onto our iOS devices. The good news is: They've done a pretty decent job of it.

This game sports four different modes: Championship mode is a regular single-player round of mini-golf. In Time trial mode, you're racing against the clock to sink the ball in the shortest possible time on any specific unlocked hole. Multi-player mode allows 2 to 4 local players to take turns on the same device (there's currently no online multiplayer). But before you play the other modes, you may want to invest some time on practice mode, to hone your skills. It would be nice if there was a career mode or tournament, to tie multiple games together, but there's currently not.

There are four cartoon avatars to choose between (2 male, 2 female), although this decision only affects which character appears on the screen. The avatars have no different attributes and don't really impact the game, so they're basically just a cosmetic preference. Although they are quite large and do obscure your view of the course, so since there's no option for "no avatar", it's probably a strategic advantage to pick the thinnest character.

There are three different courses, with 23 uniquely themed holes to play in total. The courses include 'Adventure in Japan', 'Trip around the world' and 'Putty's playground', with the last course being initially locked.� Each hole in Putty's playground must be unlocked by completing a specific challenge, such as: Score two hole-in-one's in a row, or finish a championship below par.

The courses are all rendered in 3D and feature all the slopes, jumps, water traps, bridges, tunnels and obstacles you'd expect to see on a regular mini-putt course.� Some of the more elaborate obstacles include a sumo wrestler, a moving sushi conveyer belt and the mandatory windmill.� There's different surfaces, like fake grass, wood, stone and even an ice slope. They also mix things up occasionally by making you take shots in the dark or without any aiming lines. One level even asks you a multi-choice general knowledge question, which opens a short-cut if you answer correctly.

The physics are well implemented, providing the same frustration you'd feel in real life as your ball circles the hole without sinking, or narrowly misses the hole and rows back down the slope of Mt. Fuji (again). The main challenge is getting the speed of your swing right, as a gentle touch is required at times.

The controls work pretty well …mostly. A large horizontal slider along the bottom of the screen lets you choose which of the three starting points to tee off from (not sure why you can't just touch a starting tee).� To aim your shot, you drag your finger around the screen while little white dots indicate where you're aiming. When you're ready to hit the ball, you simply drag a large vertical slider down …and then push it upwards at the desired speed. Very occasionally, it wouldn't let me aim the ball in the direction I wanted, as it became a little confused in tight spaces, although it would always respond in the end.

In real mini-golf there's often a maximum 9-shot limit, to stop queues forming at holes. But here, you can take over forty shots. There's no option for throwing your clubs when you play badly, but you can hit the ball right off the green, into the "out-of-bounds" area, which every mini-putter needs to try at least once.

Once you eventually sink the ball, your result is displayed (eg: Bogey) and your overall scorecard appears. Unfortunately the scorecard doesn't include an in-progress total, so you can't immediately tell if you're above or below par overall. Openfeint leaderboards are provided for the three courses and for time trials on each hole, with just seven achievements.

The 3D course graphics and themed backgrounds are generally well presented, although your avatars feet and club often pass straight through the objects on the course. And some text labels exceed their background boxes, which looks untidy. Also, some objects become translucent when they block your view, however a couple of times my view was completely obscured in both camera perspectives, making aiming difficult, which is particularly frustrating if you're in the middle of a dream round (I wasn't).

Putter King Adventure Golf does a great job of capturing the spirit of miniature golf, bringing back memories of playing this as a child against my father. With the multiplayer mode, a family of four can now have mini-golf competitions at home, with the loser doing the dishes. The 3D holes are pretty creative, but if you want something different, the developers are currently running a design-a-hole competition, with the winning three user-designed holes to be added as a free update in future.

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Back in March, we published a quick preview of the rope-based puzzle game, "Rope Racket" after seeing it demonstrated at GDC and we promised to keep to you posted. Well, it's a few months later than expected, but it's finally been released under the new name: Rope Rescue [99�/HD] , developed by Untame and published by Chillingo.

In this game, you control a colorful parrot, who must drag a length of rope around the screen, to free a baby parrot stuck inside a cage. But there's a catch. Before you can pull the cage door open, the rope must wrap around (or at least touch) every wheel on the level. You only have a certain amount of rope available, so the challenge is to identify the most efficient route to wrap your rope around the various gears with your finger.

The screen displays the amount of rope remaining and confirms how much rope you can use to score 1 � 3 feathers. Your score for each level is based on the time taken to free the bird and the amount of unused rope. If there's a better solution available, you probably won't be awarded the full three feathers. Scores are tracked using Chillingo's Crystal and Game Center, with a separate leaderboards for each chapter, plus 17 achievements.

There are a few obstacles to overcome along the way. Some of the wheels are moving, so you need to rope them when they're in a suitable position. Additionally, there are sharp flying knives which sever the rope, fire-cannons which shoot rope-burning fireballs, and evil vampire bats which chase you relentlessly around the screen (but are scared of the rope).

The first couple of worlds are full of variation and surprises as new elements are introduced, but then throughout the rest of the game the same components are re-used over and over. Fortunately the puzzle designs are good enough to keep things interesting and challenging. These puzzles will definitely get your brain working. I frequently scored one or two feathers on a level and then experimented with different approaches to earn the final feather by using less rope to free the bird.

There's five chapters in Rope Rescue, each with 12 levels. Beating a level unlocks the next level or chapter. Alternatively, you can use a feather to unlock ANY level. This is rather unusual as you can scroll straight to the final world and unlock the final level! This direct access to the later levels does remove some of the satisfaction of trying to reach that point yourself.

Some levels feature an "Amber" which contains a butterfly. Apparently an amber is "a pale yellow, sometimes reddish or brownish, fossil resin of vegetable origin". Who knew? Anyway, you can smash the amber with your rope to release a butterfly and score a bonus.� This doesn't have to be done as part of your rope's route through the level, you just smash the amber with the rope and then play the level afterwards. The butterflies you earn can be used to unlock levels or to see the solution for a level. Special bonus butterflies are also awarded with every 25 feathers collected, or via in-app purchases.

One aspect of the game felt a little creepy. If the flying knifes stab your parrot it shrieks, loudly. And when the rope burns, the flames travel like a fuse, straight back to your bird. It's an interesting effect, but again the bird yelps, which is unpleasant and loud. I've played plenty of games where creatures die, without even blinking, but� the way the knives are depicted sticking blade-first out of a rock, combined with the bird shrieking upon being stabbed, felt a little wrong for a casual puzzle game about saving little baby birds.

Other features include a bird sanctuary, for viewing the parrots you've rescued as they fly around, chirping happily about their freedom. And online challenges can be made with friends or random online players, via Crystal, to see who can score the best result on a particular level. These challenges are asynchronous, so you don't have to be online at the same time as the person being challenged. You start off with 1000 challenge points and there's a ranking specially for challenge scores.

Rope Rescue provides a decent challenge and caters for different skill levels. The best players will aim for three feather per level, while more casual players can just aim to complete levels. The other puzzle is trying to decide which version to download if you have an iPhone or iPod, since the Universal HD and non-HD versions are currently exactly the same low price. Answer: Get the HD version, unless you have limited storage space.

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One of our very favorite platforming games here in the TouchArcade Mothership is Ravenous Games' League of Evil [$1.99/Lite], which was released and reviewed by us this past February. The charming pixel art and kick ass chiptunes created a modern-retro aesthetic that's right up our alley, and the virtual controls are amongst the finest we've ever seen on the iOS platform. The game can be tough as nails sometimes, but in that good "please sir, can I have some more?" kind of way.

One feature that has been requested by players ever since the original release is native iPad support for League of Evil. Today, that wish has come true. The game has been updated to be Universal, and it both looks and plays phenomenally on the larger screen of the iPad. One awesome little detail is that the game works in both landscape and portrait mode on the iPad, and I've found that I'm actually digging the portrait mode the most. It makes me feel like I'm playing a huge Game Boy, which is always a good thing.

Not to be overshadowed by Universal support in this update is the inclusion of full iCade support (including menus), as well as support for the wonderful little Joypad Game Controller [Free]. Both offer interesting external ways to play League of Evil, and are welcome additions. Finally, the game is now Retina Display optimized, and the 7 exclusive levels from the lite version have now been added into the full paid game. If you've been keeping the lite version on your springboard just for those levels, then you can now bid farewell to that extra icon.

Don't be shy and go grab the new League of Evil update right away, and get busy enjoying the game on your iPad as well as the many other new features that have been added.

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Dark Incursion [$1.99] had all the makings of a decent 'Metroidvania' title for iOS. Everything from its classically-inspired pixel graphics and music to even its overarching story created a compelling atmosphere for playing. Most importantly, Dark Incursion also did a good job of somewhat emulating the Metroidvania style of gameplay while attempting to improve upon it with its different take on equipment upgrades. However, despite all these positives, Dark Incursion's horrendous control scheme simply ruins almost all of the fun.

Dark Incursion is a 2D side scrolling adventure game with a touch of platforming mixed into the gameplay. You play as Anya, an underground resistance fighter attempting to infiltrate a secret military laboratory. The game plays exactly like the recent 2D iterations of Castlevania or Metroid. Dark Incursion even preserves the standard 'find power-up, backtrack to previously inaccessible area' sort of gameplay (hence the term Metroidvania). Dark Incursion's similarities don't end with gameplay, as even the graphics and music are very similar to those spiritual predecessors. Even though Dark Incursion isn't particularly original when it comes to its presentation, it still does a good job integrating a visual style that has proven to be popular in similar games.

Dark Incursion deviates somewhat from the traditional formula in its 'fuse' system. Anya has four different fuse slots, which can be filled with a variety of enhancement fuses that range from increasing your defense, to making you move faster, to adding elemental powers to your attacks. The elemental fuses are especially important because they also have secondary powers that are necessary to advance beyond certain sections (for example, the electric fuse can jump start elevators, allowing you to actually use them).

The interesting twist is that each fuse (with the exception of some basic ones) has a finite amount of uses. Also, when a fuse is depleted, it disappears. This goes for even the all-important elemental fuses, which means that poor fuse management can get you to a point where you cannot advance further because you don't have the proper elemental fuse. Granted, fuses are dropped randomly from baddies, and since enemies continually respawn, you aren't ever permanently locked out. Still, it's an interesting choice but has the potential for some frustrating outcomes.

Whatever success Dark Incursion has quickly crumbles when it comes to its controls. Simply put, the controls are inaccurate, cumbersome, and are just not implemented well. Dark Incursion employs a virtual joystick, but the entire joystick moves with your finger. That means that, visually, the joystick always looks like it's in the neutral position, even when it isn't. In addition, simple actions like moving while in the air after a jump or even ducking to avoid a shot just aren't reliable.

Also there were some occasions where I'd encounter a certain amount of lag between pushing a button and Anya actually performing the action. However, the jumping movement issues are by far my biggest issue, as you're going to need to do a lot of jumping not just for the platform portions of the game, but also simply to avoid the potshots being taken at you throughout the game. Also, when you consider the limited checkpoint system, as well as the finite fuse resources, the control issues in Dark Incursion simply become inexcusable.

It really is a shame about the controls, because otherwise Dark Incursion would be a game worth checking out simply for its somewhat successful implementation of the Metroidvania formula on iOS. However, in its current state you would be far more likely to simply be frustrated with the game than actually enjoy any aspect of it. According to folks in our forums, a controls fix is supposedly in the works. Assuming that prospective update does improve the situation, Dark Incursion would easily be a game worth trying. However, in its current state, you're better off passing.

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