Gaming has exploded on Apple’s iPhone since the first model’s arrival in 2007.
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There are now thousands of games available in the App Store, ranging from casual games like Popcap’s Plants vs. Zombies to more in-depth fare such as two entries in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series.
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Many of the latest games take advantage of the iPhone 4’s key new features, as far as gaming is concerned: the high-resolution display, which Apple has dubbed Retina, and the gyroscopic sensor added to the phone.
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The iPhone 4’s 3.5-inch screen has the same dimensions as the iPhone 3GS’s, but the resolution is 640 by 960 pixels, compared to the 3GS’ 320 by 480 pixels, making individual pixels nearly impossible to distinguish.
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Thus, games designed to take advantage of the display are sharper and smoother than those which aren’t, though games not designed or updated for the new display still look good, if a bit pixelated.
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The gyroscopic sensor offers more precise motion detection — for pitch, roll and yaw –than earlier models, allowing for new control methods, a big advantage when playing games on a system that doesn’t have any buttons for play control.
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With these new features in mind, we searched through iTunes’ gaming apps list for $50 worth of worthy titles. Here’s what we found, in descending order of price:
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Street Fighter IV
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Capcom
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$9.99
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Street Fighter IV is one of the best-looking fighting games around, and it translates pretty well to the iPhone. It’s not quite the same — the roster of fighters is smaller than the console game’s; the game uses high-detailed rendered sprites instead of polygonal models; and the controls have been pared down to a single punch and kick button from the usual three of each, along with focus and special attack buttons. But for all the compromises here, the game looks and plays great, and…