It was in July of last year that SNK Playmore brought their classic fighting game franchise to iOS with The King of Fighters-i [ $4.99 ], and it was the only game that could really stand up to the then current standard for touch screen fighters Street Fighter IV [ $4.99 ], and in many ways it even exceeded it. Which series you prefer is largely a personal preference thing, but I always felt that The King of Fighters-i edged out Street Fighter IV in overall quality and playability. The problem was that by the time The King of Fighters-i hit the App Store, the superior sequel to Street Fighter IV had already been out for a month. It was called Street Fighter IV Volt [ $6.99 ] and it came packing everything that made the original game so great plus additional characters, new features, and most importantly online multiplayer. The Read More

Late last week Capcom surprised everybody by announcing an iOS port of their classic arcade fighter Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 [ $2.99 ]. In all honesty, I suspect this was a cleverly timed release to casually tie in with 'The Avengers' movie coming out next week, but whatever the motivation I’m not complaining. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is one of the most beloved fighting games in history, and prior to the downloadable rerelease on XBL and PSN in 2009 it could be kind of a difficult game to play unless you owned the Dreamcast or the somewhat rare PS2 or Xbox versions. With that said it’s fairly mind blowing then that today you can download the entire original game onto a device that fits snugly in your pocket (or to your iPad if you’d rather, since the game is Universal, though it’s extra snug trying to jam that in your pocket). Read More

Earlier this month, SNK Playmore released an update for their excellent iOS version of their popular fighting game franchise King of Fighters-i [$6.99]. Unfortunately, there was a huge SNAFU with the update, and for a lot of people downloading it would wipe out all of their data as well as take away 6 characters which had been added in a previous update. The good news is that SNK Playmore has released a new update for King of Fighters-i that fixes the issue of deleting the additional characters. The bad news is that if your data was previously erased, then you aren't getting it back. At least not in my case. If you held off on the last update or your data wasn't erased as a result of it then you should be good to go with the new update. Emphasis on the word "should" because at this point I'm sure anything Read More

Posted 01/20/2012 at 4:30pm | by J Keirn-Swanson If you're like us (trapped in tonight by predicted snow), you're craving a little action, a little excitement, a little elbow in someone's face gaming, swords clashing, buckles swashing, and all the rest. Well, have we got some two-fisted deals for you. BAM! Just one of the many Gameloft titles with their price-throats cut, sinking them to their knees at $0.99. Whether you're unleashing your skills on the iPhone or iPad, for a dollar you'll be kicking butt and trying to save your daughter from a corrupt secret agency. Weapons and gadgets are at your disposal, but you'll need your wits more than anything. If martial arts and manga style graphics are more your speed, save yourselves 4 smackers by dropping $2.99 on this popular fists of fury game. Create teams that suit your fighting style, collect trading cards in the gallery, or Read More

In case you've been busy spending the holidays with friends and family, or just cross-country skiing to the North Pole, here's our recap of last week's epic, five-part series on the 50 best iOS games of 2011. How many do you own? #50: Temple Run In 2011, independent developers Imangi Studios had their biggest hit yet: The endless running game Temple Run. A cross between Canabalt and Raiders of the Lost Ark, in Temple Run you have to make split-second decisions and quick button presses to try to survive. The combinations of simple swipes and tilt controls, plus Temple Run's freemium pricing and stylish 3D graphics, made it one of the year's best high-score survival games. Our Bottom Line: Now is your chance to be Indiana Jones. #49: Tapper World Tour After nearly 30 years, the Tapper license awoke from a drunken stupor to revel in the App Store. Tapper World Read More

It's no secret that iOS game developers enjoy a good holiday sale, and this week they've pulled out all the stops, dropping the prices on hundreds of titles. We've sifted through the sales and highlighted the best games below (and it's ). If you've had your eye on any of these, this is a great time to pull the trigger. Free Call of Mini: Zombies - Review - 3/4 - Free (was $0.99) - Open in iTunes Hero of Sparta II - Review - 4/4 - Free (was $4.99) - Open in iTunes iStunt 2 - Snowboard - Review - 4/4 - Free (was $0.99) - Open in iTunes Jetpack Joyride - Review - 3/4 - Free (was $0.99) - Open in iTunes MinoMonsters - Review - 3/4 - Free (was $0.99) - Open in iTunes Ninja Fishing - Review - 3/4 - Free (was $0.99) - Open in iTunes Sentinel Read More

If your iPhone or iPad's memory still isn't full after you gorged on the various Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving deals, know this: most of the celebratory sales are still active on the App Store. In fact, we've discovered a couple more that we couldn't fit in before the holiday break. That's what this post is all about -- the leftovers. For example, Telltale Games has lowered its games' prices 55-80 percent from the usual. The savings began on November 23, but will continue until tomorrow, November 30. Arghata Studio also bashed the prices of its 1112 series in honor of our Turkey Day, and those sales are still continuing, too, well into this week. Here's a short list of some notables: Odds And Ends Agharta Studios Telltale Games Cool deals, right? As a side-note, if you feel like you've been left out of the initial extravaganza, App Shopper [Free] remains an Read More

This past May, SNK Playmore surprised everybody by releasing The King of Fighters-i [$4.99], a mobile version of their popular fighting series, into the App Store. Until that time, Capcom’s [$6.99] had been the pinnacle of touch screen fighters, but just like the 90s arcades that I grew up in, King of Fighters gave Street Fighter a worthy opponent for the title of best iOS fighting game. We gave the nod to The King of Fighters-i in our review, but just barely, and in reality both titles are extremely evenly matched when it comes down to gameplay and features. It really may just boil down to personal preference which one you like more, or if you’re like me, you just play and enjoy both. Problem solved. Anyway, The King of Fighters-i has just gotten even better with a brand new update that adds 6 new playable fighters as well as an Read More

SNK's famous King of Fighters series has finally come to iOS with this new app for the iPhone, allowing you to play with 13 different fighters across four singleplayer modes and Bluetooth multiplayer. The setup is very similar to Capcom's Street Fighter, with virtual buttons on the touchscreen, but of course this game has all different fighters to play with, and lots of extras to unlock, from trading cards of the fighters themselves to concept art and even movies from the main console game. The King of Fighters-i 002 is pricey at US$7.99, but all indications are that this is a nice premium game, especially if you're a fan of the KoF series. Plus, while there are only 13 characters right now, more will be available to download for free, which should bring the total to 20 different characters by October, according to SNK. If you're already sold, go grab the Read More

On this episode of The Portable Podcast, host Carter Dotson and guest co-host Blake Grundman discuss the EA acquisition of PopCap, along with new releases King of Fighters, Deathsmiles, and 9mm. All we want to do is acquire your brains! It’s not unreasonable, I mean no one’s gonna merge with your eyes. On This Episode: Who We Are: Music: How to Listen: Apps Mentioned in this Episode: $2.99 Released: 2010-02-15 :: Category: Games $6.99 Released: 2011-07-07 :: Category: Games $11.99 Released: 2011-07-07 :: Category: Games $6.99 Released: 2011-07-14 :: Category: Games Read More

Last year, Capcom raised the bar for traditional fighting games on the touch screen with Street Fighter IV [$4.99], and a couple of weeks ago they upped their game again by releasing Street Fighter IV Volt [$6.99] with online multiplayer. To a lesser degree, we’ve also seen Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 [99¢/HD] on the App Store, and although quirky and rough around the edges it still offered up a decent portable experience for fans of that series. With SNK Playmore’s recently released The King of Fighters-i [$7.99], we now have all the major players of the mid-90s 2D arcade fighter rivalry once again battling it out with each other, this time on the App Store. While SNK’s various fighting franchises all had a pretty dedicated following, it was always the Street Fighters and Mortal Kombats of the world that stole the mainstream spotlight. Now here, more than a decade later on iOS, Read More

Company: SNK Playmore Players: One-Two Price: $8 Compatible: iPod touch 3G/4G, iPhone 3GS/4, iPad/iPad 2* Editor-in-Chief, iLounge Published: Friday, July 8, 2011 Category: Games - iPad, iPhone + iPod When Capcom's one-on-one fighting game series Street Fighter needed legitimate competition nearly two decades ago, rival Japanese developer SNK rose to the challenge by releasing a number of different rivals. Each title's characters were obviously inspired by but different from Street Fighter's, and evolved over time --with many sequels -- to become very compelling gap-fillers for Capcom's releases. The King of Fighters was a crossover title, taking some of the best characters from SNK's fighting and action games, and pioneering a new three-on-three format. Instead of choosing just one character, you picked a team of three, and winning required your team to have the last person standing. Now SNK Playmore has released The King of Fighters-i 002 ($8) for iPhone 3GS/4 and Read More