Best of FingerGaming: From Space Ace to Zenonia

[Every week, Gamasutra sums up sister iPhone site FingerGaming's top news and reviews for Apple's nascent -- and increasingly exciting -- portable games platform, as written by editor in chief Danny Cowan and authors Tim Lockridge, Louise Yang, and Jonathan Glover.] This week, FingerGaming highlights notable releases like Space Ace and Zenonia, and details the upcoming release of Doom. Featured reviews for this week cover Kaloki Adventure, Fritz Chess, and The Creeps! - Review: Kaloki Adventure "Part tycoon game and part corny story, it's something like running a lemonade stand in the middle of a Douglas Adams novel. The iPhone port stays true to the Xbox title and its PC predecessor, and it's a fantastic way for newcomers to enter the action, despite some minor control issues." - id's Carmack Details Upcoming Doom iPhone Port "Though Doom has been ported to dozens of platforms since its 1993 debut, Carmack notes that actually getting the game to play well on a format like the iPhone is 'an honest development effort.' In his latest update, Carmack describes the challenges he's faced so far, which range from music compression to upscaled artwork." - Update: Edge Pulled Over Alleged Trademark Infringement "Tim Langdell, CEO of EDGE Games, GDC 2009 speaker and Lead Game Faculty at National University, contacted Mobigame and Apple in April asking that the game be pulled. Langdell claims his company owns the worldwide 'trademark' EDGE. Despite this, the game remains up in other territories." - Review: Fritz Chess "Fritz Chess manages to position itself as a deep and difficult chess sim, using a respected engine and a flashy UI. To be competitive at a $10 price point, however, the game needs to be more than a Fritz front end -- instead offering features beyond the basic chess match." - Top Free Game App Downloads for the Week "A free demo version of the sliding block puzzler Unblock Me takes the top spot in this week's free app charts. Storm8's recently released Mob Wars clone World War finishes at second place, while last week's chart champion Urinal Test falls to third." - Don Bluth Animated Arcade Classic Space Ace Comes to iPhone "After observing the potential the platform held for modern-day FMV titles like Hysteria Project and The Odyssey, Digital Leisure has joined the App Store with an iPhone port of the 1984 arcade title Space Ace." - Review: The Creeps! "Because of the constant influx of tower defense games on the iPhone, I overlooked The Creeps! the first time around. It wasn't until its latest patch that I actually noticed it, and boy, am I glad that I did." - Gamevil's Action-RPG Zenonia Debuts in App Store "Billed as 'the return of the classic action RPG,' Gamevil's Zenonia successfully combines The Legend of Zelda-like gameplay with an appropriate 16-bit aesthetic." - Interview: Lilt Line Developer Gordon Midwood "Navigating a wee line through cavernous, DayGlo maps, mortar blast drum beats guide your fingers through the game's perfectly linear ten levels. FingerGaming had a chance to chat with Midwood about the game's superb sound design and why individuality has such a hard time equating to sales in the crowded App Store." - Top-Selling Paid Game Apps for the Week "Bloons climbs up to second place in the App Store charts this week, thanks to a recent update that added 50 new levels. Adult Swim's Amateur Surgeon sees a similar boost in popularity this week following a drop in price and the release of a well-received Lite version."