FingerGaming

Every Monday, FingerGaming rounds up the most popular paid iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:

1. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D ($5.99)
2. iHunt ($0.99)
3. Crazy Tanks ($0.99)
4. Tetris ($4.99)
5. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)
6. Chopper ($0.99)
7. Touchgrind ($4.99)
8. Enigmo ($1.99)
9. Moto Chaser ($0.99)
10. The Price is Right ($2.99)

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D again finishes at the top of the pack, fending off newfound competition from iHunt, which jumps up from fifth to second place in this week’s results. Newcomer action title Crazy Tanks also makes a big splash this week at third place, while Tetris follows close behind.

This week’s chart offers predictable results otherwise, with mainstays like Bejeweled 2, Chopper, and Touchgrind remaining as popular as ever. EA’s SimCity drops out of the top ten for the first time since its release in December, meanwhile, as Moto Chaser and The Price is Right finish up at ninth and tenth place.

Tags: Action, crash bandicoot nitro kart 3d, crazy tanks, ihunt, Puzzle, Racing, top paid apps

Polarbit released an 1.0.3 update for arcade racing game Raging Thunder ($3.99) that now includes “online, real-time competitive multiplayer,” which the studio claims is a first for any App Store game.

The updated game is available for purchase on the App Store, but anyone who already bought Raging Thunder since its release in late September can grab the beta at no extra cost. The company cautions players to keep in mind that the online multiplayer feature is still in its beta stage and likely has a few issues still.

Polarbit co-founder Mitri Bautista-Wiberg commented:

We’ve received *a lot* of positive feedback from gamers about Raging Thunder. The reception has been really tremendous. The one thing that people seemed to miss was the ability to play against each other over the Internet. This was something we’d been talking about amongst ourselves, so when we had a few hours to spare we decided to give it a try and threw together a beta.

Tags: polarbit, Racing, raging thunder

There’s been no shortage of racing games available in the App Store, and today another one joins the fray in Atod AB’s Fastlane Street Racing ($5.99). Fastlane Street Racing, an arcade-style racing game, aims to be the fastest and best-looking racing game, and offers these features:

• 5 Game modes
• High detail 3D graphics
• Advanced lighting and effects
• 10 Original cars
• 8 Fun and challenging city routes
• 2 High speed race circuits
• 6 Challenge tracks
• Save replays

One thing worth mentioning is how much I like the minimalistic and speedy menu system in the game. Too often App Store games try to be too flashy and make it a tedious process just to navigate the menu.

A gameplay video showcasing Fastlane Street Racing below:

Tags: atod ab, fastlane street racing, Racing

Fish Labs award-winning boat racing game, Powerboat Challenge ($3.99), has shown up in the App Store. Featuring the ability to trick out your powerboat to boost its top speed, handling, acceleration, and turbo, choose from multiple characters, and race against up to three other opponents in locations all around the world.

Different types of races held all around the world. These include lap races against three other boats, elimination races where the last boat in each lap drops out, and solo races against a time target for each course. Prove your drive style and pass the buoys correctly along the course to fill up your boost bar and ignite the turbo. In addition, you will also get style points for every skillfully rounded buoy. Earn enough style points and tuning sets will be unlocked, that you can then buy with your prize money from the races. Go to the shop and choose among bigger engines, chip tuning, fatter turbos, spoilers and such to beat even tougher opponents.

Pocket Gamer gave the non-iPhone version of the game a 7 out of 10, stating, “Visually, it’s lovely, with the sort of reflections you won’t have seen too often in a mobile game.”

A video showing Powerboat Challenge in action can be watched below:

Tags: fish labs, powerboat challenge, Racing

After a slow weekend, a number of new games have shown up in the App Store today that are worth checking out:

Urban Tycoon

Urban Tycoon ($1.99) | Simulation & Strategy

Urban Tycoon puts the city in your hands.. literally! Pinch and swipe your way through your city. The goal of Urban Tycoon is to build a financially flourishing metropolis that’s environmentally safe and low on crime. As an urban tycoon you will have complete control of your urban area’s budget… so spend it wisely.

Urban Tycoon will be on sale for $1.99 until Version 2.0 hits the app store in November. So get it while it’s hot!

Mister Bumblebee Racing Champion

Mister Bumblebee Racing Champion ($4.99) | Racing

Mister Bumblebee and his friends are having a race today!

Because they are flying, this is not just like driving a car - it is a truly
three dimensional experience. Fly over hills, under tree trunks and through caves.
Avoid collisions, collect items and establish new lap records!

Features:
- Completely in 3D
- Four cartoon style hand-drawn tracks
- Choose Mister Bumblebee or three other funny characters
- Smoke bombs and other special items
- Three levels of difficulty
- Compare your lap times in the hall of fame

Nanosaur 2

Nanosaur 2 ($3.99) | Action/Shooter

If you’ve been looking for a game to show off your iPhone’s capabilities to your friends then Nanosaur 2 is it. Nanosaur 2 is the most advanced 3D game yet for the iPhone, and it takes things to a whole new level.

In Nanosaur 2 you pilot a flying dinosaur from the future who is equipped with massive firepower! Your goal is to find and retrieve the missing dinosaur eggs, and to do that you’ll have to blow up a whole lotta stuff! You’ll battle other Nanosaurs and their defense systems, and collect powerups which give you a large array of weaponry ranging from heat seeking missiles to cluster bombs.

If you like flying, you like dinosaurs, and you like to make things go BOOM! then Nanosaur 2 is the game for you!

LED Basketball

LED Basketball ($0.99) | Sport/Strategy

LED Basketball for the iPhone. touchGrove brings you old-school basketball at it’s very best. Your friends and associates will drool over the creamy orange plastic case… the pulsating bright red LED’s… the razor-sharp, authentic court screen printed with realistic basketball graphics. Run your fingers over the smooth orange basketball”shoot” butttons and you’ll know it’s the real deal. Pass the ball to your teammate or go in for a slam dunk. Because you are the Man. And you know this is gonna be some awesome basketball action. So dig down deep in your pockets and find yourself 99 cents… cuz that’s all it’s gonna cost!!!

Tags: Action, led basketball, mister bumblebee racing champion, nanosaur 2, pangea software, Racing, simulation, Sport, strategy, touchgrove, touchsoft mobile, urban tycoon

The sequel to the incredibly popular Cube Runner has shown up in the App Store, Cube Runner II ($2.99). You can still get the original Cube Runner for free, but this new version from Andy Qua has a slew of new features and gameplay modes, such as Time Trial where you not only have to avoid blocks but tilt your iPhone/iPod Touch forward or backwards to speed up and slow down and beat the best time. There’s also a built-in level and object editor to make your own courses to play and share with others.

Cube Runner II features:

• Fast 3D graphics
• Intuitive controls - use the built-in accelerometer to fly across the terrain.
• Original Cube Runner game included and new Time Trial mode.
• Internal level editor - create and test your own levels from within the game.
• Internal Object editor - no longer are you confined to just cubes - and each level can have up to 26 different objects. You can also customise your ship!
• Stackable blocks - no longer are you limited to single blocks, now create bridges, tunnels, walls, etc
• Email your created levels for others to play.
• Download levels created by others.

Tags: andy qua, cube runner, cube runner II, Racing

StarByte, known for the update retro classic, Space Invasion ($2.99), has released a new 2D top-down racing game called Black Mamba Racer ($3.99). It features tiny cars, much like driving a remote control car, with the controls being on-screen to turn left and right.

Race against the Black Mamba and her drone racers over 9 tracks and 25 racing missions. To win you’ll need to slide, drift and hustle your car round the circuits, taking the fastest racing line. Get the car setup for a corner, floor it and drift round. Get the balance right and you’ll make fast laps, skillfully mastering consecutive drifted corners.

Collect on track power-up items for extra help. Take care not to damage your car from other aggressive racers, tough chicanes, mobile barriers, fast moving rivers and many other track or location obstacles.

After each mission, learn from the Black Mamba as she gives her comments on your progress. The game climaxes with a final one-on-one race with the Black Mamba. Only the most skilled, aggressive and fastest can beat her.

You can see the game in action below:

Tags: black mamba racer, Racing, space invasion, starbyte

Handmark, Inc. let us know that they’ve reduced the price for GTS World Racing ($2.99) by 5 dollars to $2.99, original cost was $7.99, and it will be on sale for a limited time until October 19th. They also confirmed a rumored update that will include a major overhaul and updated features, which is likely to include improved graphics and gameplay to compete with other racing titles now available in the App Store. You can see our review of GTS World Racing here.

Tags: gts world racing, handmark inc., Price Change, Racing

With competition heating up and Cro-Mag Rally ($1.99) dropping in price to $1.99 and the top paid app in the App Store, the developer of the other kart racing title has dropped the price from $9.99 to $5.99 for Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D ($5.99). With more racing titles showing up for the iPhone and iPod Touch, we should see more price drops in the coming months as a result.

Just recently the Boston Herald reviewed 7 racing games available in the App Store, and found Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D to be one of the more fun racing games so far.

Tags: crash bandicoot nitro kart 3d, Price Change, Racing

The Boston Herald has a comparison of seven racing games available in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, with price ranges from free all the way up to $9.99. Games in the comparison are Asphalt 4: Elite Racing ($9.99), Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D ($9.99), Cro-Mag Rally ($1.99), Moto Chaser ($4.99), GTS World Racing ($7.99), Raging Thunder ($7.99), and Audi A4 Driving Challenge (Free).

Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, Moto Chaser, and Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D get top honors with them, but acknowledge that there’s still some room for improvement in the current crop of racing games, especially when it comes to multiplayer.

Tags: asphalt 4, audio a4 driving challenge, crash bandicoot nitro kart 3d, cro mag rally, gts world racing, moto chaser, Racing, raging thunder, reviews