Best of iOS news: From Defender Chronicles II to Virtua Tennis Challenge

[Gamasutra rounds up the latest news in the world of App Store gaming, featuring standout releases like Defender Chronicles II, RunRunDie, Virtua Tennis Challenge, and Gauge.] - Menara Games Debuts Tower Defense Sequel Defender Chronicles II Following up on its 2009 App Store hit, Menara delivers a vertically oriented take on the tower defense genre boasting dozens of unit types and five gameplay modes. - Student-Developed Platformer RunRunDie! Debuts In App Store "Voltic Games, a newly formed studio composed of 18- and 19-year old students from Brisbane, Australia, has released RunRunDie!, an iOS platformer about 'tiny furry creatures being set on fire and trying to avoid death-by-dinosaur.'" - 8-4 Helms Japanese Localization For Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP "Video game localization company 8-4 will produce a Japanese-language version of Capy Games' hit adventure title Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for iOS, Windows, and Mac platforms." - Sega's Virtua Tennis Challenge Premieres For iOS Sega's long-running Virtua Tennis series hits the App Store with a new gesture-based control scheme optimized for touch screens. - The Game Atelier Launches Experimental iOS Reflex Tester Gauge "In Gauge, players must touch the screen to keep a bar charged as close to its limits as possible to earn points. During gameplay, Gauge attempts to break the player's concentration with strobing, pulsing background imagery, interspersed with the occasional non sequitur image." - J.S. Joust Clone Removed from App Store, Dev "Never Gave Permission" "Ustwo's game, Papa Quash, used a similar design as the indie darling Johann Sebastian Joust, but traded that game's PlayStation Move controllers for iOS devices. Audiences quickly noted the similarities and called the studio out for allegedly stealing Die Gute Fabrik's design." - Mobile Game Pick: Spheris (Lodehed Labs) "In Spheris, players rotate the playfield to match incoming blocks with like-colored segments. The app features multiple gameplay modes, and includes Game Center leaderboards and achievements." - Tower Defense Sequel Fieldrunners 2 to iOS first, then Steam "The not-yet-priced game will hit iPhone at the end of June, with an iPad version available shortly afterwards. Subatomic's Alec Shobin says the team is focusing on the iPad version before bringing the sequel to Steam."