With most of you, me included, no doubt deep in a large serving of Modern Warfare 2 pie… it’s easy to miss some of the big stories of the past week in the world of iPhone and iPod Touch Gaming. So, here we are once more with the TouchGen Touchdown… a look at the top stories of the week…

Zombie love

Just as Matt mentions we have too many zombie games in our podcast, along comes Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies… Now, as Matt said, there are a ton of Zombie games on the AppStore, some good, some bad. But, none come with the kind of pedigree that the name Call of Duty can bring to the table.

Don’t get all excited though, as this isn’t a full COD game, instead it takes the zombie mode from COD: World at war and throws some co-op online play into the mix. I was skeptical at first, but what a mix it is. While the single player game doesn’t have much legs, with it’s relatively repetitive arcade style play… throw in real people and the experience changes altogether. There’s something about being trapped in a bunker with four strangers, battling the undead that brings an air of co-operation and togetherness. Much like Left for Dead on the bigger consoles, you genuinely care for your gaming brothers, running to revive them once they get struck down. You can read Kamblad’s thoughts in his full review here.

Go bananas!

Just as we thought that SEGA had given up on Apple’s handhelds, particularly in the bigger games, along comes new of Super Monkey Ball 2. The first game was the first real proof that console like  quality could be achieved. It seems so long ago now, with me giving it a well deserved 4/5 when I reviewed the game back in August 2008. There were some small problems with the game, mainly to do with over sensitive controls and a lack of centre zone (fixed in a later update). For me though it was the lack of mini games that made the console editions such a joy to play. On Gamecube I spent hours playing friends in Monkey Boxing and Bowling (way before Wii sports), and I’m happy to report that many of these will be coming to the iPhone & iPod Touch with SMB2… some on the day of release and others later through in app purchase. Look for your monkey and banana collecting fix around the holidays.

Why so serious?

Looks like Apple are getting their act together and hiring games developers for their team… and it’s nice to see they are finally taking this gaming shenanagens seriously! A listing posted last week asks for game and media software engineers for it’s iPhone and iPod Touch Teams to implement “interactive multimedia experiences” with only candidates who have worked on successful titles need apply. With Texas Hold’em being Apple’s only foray into games on the AppStore, it makes sense that they wish to earn a larger part of the pie.

Mind your step!

After a long wait Secret Exits ‘Stair Dismount’ has been submitted to Apple. It’s a rag-doll physics game that requires you to push a poor defenceless doll down some stairs. You earn points by colouring (or bruising) as much of the doll as possible – think Zenbound meets Pain. A nice touch is that you can apply face book friends faces to the doll! Cue multiple repeats of Dave LeClair falling to his doom!!

Mini Squadron hits the skies

Got my hands on Mini Squadron today. I covered the game in the news back in September, and have been eagerly awaiting it’s release ever since. Produced by Tak Fung, and Ex-Lionhead employee, Mini Squadron is a 2D side scrolling shooter which sees you dogfighting our wway hrough aves of enemy squadrons. The controls work well with a virtual stick, and there are cool power up like airstikes and speed boosts to keep things interesting. I wasn’t a bigfn of the classical style music, and with it turned off there is no sound effects for the planes themselves which is disappointing, however the graphics and gameplay more than make up for it, and for $2.99 it’s a solid effort.

Ace combat’s new challenger

More flight comes our way with Gameloft’s unexpected release of HAWX, which is certainly a direct challenger to the upcoming Ace Combat. Taking the main story arc of the console edition and condensing it down to 13 missions, the game takes you through varied environments such as the US, Middle East and South America, where you will be battling air and ground defences, as well as providing air support for the ghost recon teams from the sister Tom Clancy series.

Our friends and fellow O.A.T.S members Slide To Play have hands-on video of the game in action which you can see here.

Home James!

Back when GTA was all top down look’in, the 1st fully 3D crime-based driving game hit the PS1 in the shape of Driver, from Reflections Interactive (now Ubisoft). It saw you play as Tanner, an undercover cop posing as a getaway driver. Much like GTA, you take on various missions for the mob, pimps and drug dealers which as you complete reveals more of the story. I remember playing it back in the day and feeling very much engrossed in the ‘then’ sprawling cities (nothing compared to the GTA games now). So why am I telling you this? Well the clue is in the mention of Ubisoft… Gameloft’s big sister. As with HAWX (another game by Ubisoft and converted to iPhone by Gameloft), they will be bringing Driver to the AppStore very soon. Check out the teaser trailer below:

Dirk the daring!

Finally, after a backwards release of bringing Space Ace to the AppStore, Digital Leisure will be releasing the original Laser Disc game ‘Dragon’s Lair’ anytime now. Expect a similar setup to Space Ace on the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can read my review of Space Ace here, as well as a look at another laser disc game MadDog McCree here

Survival Horror comes to iPhone

7th Sense have released screens shots of what they are calling the “First real survival horror game” for iPhone and iPod Touch. They obviously missed Resident Evil 4! Anyhoo, Fallen Episode 1 includes 40 dark and gloomy locales, with an original sountrack that will send chills down your spine. The game is with Apple for approval with a tentative release date of December 2009. Check out the screens below.

Well that’s it for another week of TouchDown. Be sure to check out our reviews from the past week, including the excellent Jet Car Stunts, the RPG goodness of Ravensword, and cute platform action of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. For more chat on the news and what we’ve been playing don’t forget to check out Unleashed Podcast, and a special interview with the developers of Ravensword.

Keep gaming!

By Nigel Wood, UK