Unique to the iPhone and iPod touch, Phaze will offer players an exhilarating racing experience as they race around rollercoaster-like tracks in their chosen ship, complete with stomach-flipping twists and turns, velocity-increasing boost pads all while collecting powerups and avoiding weapons from their competitors.

The game features both single and championship play modes across 16 futuristic locations and four levels of difficulty: easy, normal, hard and extreme. Players start with a choice of three ships with different specs, while a further seven more are unlockable through wins in the Championship mode.

Phaze includes the following features:

• 4 difficulty levels – Easy through to Extreme
• 3 race craft to choose from (with 7 more unlockable)
• 16 futuristic tracks
• 6 types of weapon and defense powerup
• Enjoy the in-game music, or play your own soundtrack

Phaze is developed by Pazzazz Games, exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, and published by Astraware, a Handmark Studio. Other successful titles from Pazzazz include GTS World Racing and Hellfire (review, 4.0/5.0 Taps)

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Platypus is based on the cult Mac classic title from Idigicon. It is a fast and fun side-scrolling arcade shooter with a difference. Every object in the game is created from modeling clay – when enemies explode, they don’t go in a bang – they splat all over the screen.

The story of Platypus has you, the player to defend Mungola from the invading hordes of Collosatropolans. You are equiped with the great trusty F-27 Platypus fighter craft. Your task – shoot down all enemy planes. Fruit bonuses and a range of weapon upgrades assist you in your quest to rid Mungola from the invaders. Four massive areas, each with multiple levels await you.

Controls can be done thru the accelerometer by tilting the iPhone, or you could guide your ship around by tapping on the screen with your finger. The latest update means that you could now drag another friend with an iPhone or iPod touch and play co-operatively to defend the peaceful world of Mungola, over local wi-fi. Also included in the update is a bug fix that prevented players from listening to their music from the iTunes library while playing.

Get Platypus from the iTunes Store for only $4.99 a copy. You might also want to check out the Platypus page on Facebook for a video of multiplayer in action.

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Coming soon to an iPhone/iPod touch racer near your is Handmark’s take on the WipeOut-like futuristic racing genre. Check out Phaze, developed by the guys at Pazzazzz Games who brought us titles superb titles like GTS World Racing and Hellfire (review, 4.0/5.0 Taps).

There’s not much info about the game at this moment, other than the fact that it’s an anti-gravity racer. In fact, the game is still very much in development with some of the graphics not being finalized yet. Nevertheless, Handmark has released three screenshots (click for larger version) and a sneak peak video of the game in action. Check them out!

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Crazy Daisy is a simple and fun color-matching arcade game which is beautifully themed for Spring. Its designed perfectly for kids of all ages. The game requires that players spin the colorful flowers to match the petals and watch them pop. There are three game modes to choose from Arcade, Endless and Puzzle – each designed with a different challenge in mind. Sound effects-wise, the game features some nice insect voice effects and a cute soundtrack to match. Like most Astraware titles, you can actually play the game using your own music instead of the built-in soundtrack – just make sure to turn off the music while in the game.

Get Crazy Daisy and indulge in a relaxing game that is perfect for a day in the garden – its priced at only $0.99! And here’s a video of the game in action.

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Simply said, Bubble Shuffle is a fun undersea-themed word game, perfect for both kids and adults alike.

The game comes with four different modes to play in, two timed modes – Shuffle Rush and Fast Finder and two untimed modes – Shuffle Puzzle and Discovery. At first glance, the different modes might look similar. However, upon careful observation, you’ll notice the different entertainment values offered by each mode.

Let’s take a closer look at the different modes. Shuffle Puzzle and Shuffle Rush are quite similar to each other, with the difference that one lets you play at your own pace while the other challenges you to complete each level within the allocated time. As the name suggests, both Shuffle Puzzle and Shuffle Rush modes require that you find a word which uses all of the letters provided in order to advance. In Discovery and Fast Finder mode, you are tasked to find a certain number of words based off any length in order to proceed to the next level.

Regardless of the mode you choose to play, once you reach the required goal for each level, the Advance button lits up, allowing you to proceed to the next level. You may continue in the same level to find all of the possible words for bonus points though.

Gameplay is quite simple. Letters are displayed in bubbles which you then either tap or drag to move them into the black box. There’s a ‘Shuffle’ button that will help rearrange the bubbles that are currently not in the black box. Believe me, as simple as it sounds, using this button does really help you built certain hard to find words. Once you are confident that the word you just build is valid, tap on the Enter button to register it. Wordsworth Smartygills, the fish mascot of the game shall let you know if a certain word is not valid.

Taking a little cue from recent console games, Bubble Shuffle lets you hunt for what is similar to Achievements (or Thropies) via an Awards system. There are about seven awards waiting to be discovered, each represented by a sea horse. An award is rewarded for performing certain tasks, like forming obscure words without using the shuffle button.

Advanced users and those who want more challenges may opt to have the Extended Dictionary turned on – a feature common in most of Astraware’s word-based games. By default, this dictionary is turned off – truly obscure words are not included in the word list at the same time, the player will not be required to find those words to complete the level. However, finding them will still gain you a bonus. At the end of the day, the only matter here is whether you want the bonus of finding obscure words or the challenge in finding them.

Bubble Shuffle utilizes a very simple interface that is common among most iPhone applications. I have only one complain though – the bubbles are quite small and quite challenging if you have fat fingers. They should have been made larger to accomodate the extra screen estate of the device.

Being Astraware’s first word-based game for the iPhone platform, Bubble Shuffle is quite entertaining a title. The inclusion of the extended dictionary adds replay value to the game. Anagram-anglers would definitely love the challenges provided by the game, while casual gamers would thank the game for helping build and expand their vocabulary.

Bubble Shuffle is available from the iTunes Store for only $4.99 a copy. The game is developed by Astraware and is published by Handmark, Inc. Continuing the tradition of Astraware reviews, I shall leave you with a short clip of the game in action. Game screenshots follow after that.

Rating: 4.0/5.0 Taps

App Data
App Name: Bubble Shuffle v1.00 | Publisher: Handmark, Inc. | Purchase via: iTunes App Store @ $4.99 | Released: Feb 04, 2009 | Reviewed on: iPod touch v2.2.1

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