Part 2 of this retrospective focuses on 2010, when things got bigger and better thanks to a little help from Apple and some big ideas from developers.
2010
The year opened with a bang for iPhone gamers. Rockstar smashed on to the iOS scene with the 9 out of 10 rated GTA Chinatown Wars. We knew it was coming since the announcements in December 2009, but come Januarary, there we were with a full working copy in our hands.
Some feared the return to 2D would harm the series and be a backward step, but Chinatown Wars was every bit as playable as those 3D console epics. Previously available on the DS and PSP, it retained the neat touch screen abilities from the Nintendo console while matching the graphical prowess of the PSP version. Though it wasn’t without criticism for driving and combat controls, the game as a whole showed other developers what the iPhone was capable of and once again put it alongside other Handheld consoles. Reviewing the game for AppGamer.net, Jamin Smith said “A few annoying flaws hold the game back from a perfect score, but as a package, iPhone games don’t come any more expansive or entertaining than this.”
2010 also saw its fair share of ports and remakes of older classics. Broken Sword: The 
Director’s Cut made point and click games seem like a perfect fit for the format. Rayman 2 did the opposite for platform games, being almost unplayable thanks to a less than useful control system. The port of Street Fighter IV was much more of a success despite the seemingly impossible task of fitting it on a small screen with no physical controls. Though there were a few doubts about comparisons with the bigger console version, Jamin Smith commented “Street Fighter IV on iPhone can still be considered a success, and Capcom really do deserve a medal for pulling it off.”
Also worthy of mention is Gameloft’s Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. A port of the console game, Warrior Within impressively squeezed the whole game, including speech, in to a downloadable iPhone package without losing anything in the process. Only the annoying camera and the inprecise controls hindered it from being a classic.
Original games with a nod to other titles were popular too. X2 Snowboarding owed a lot to the SSX series but managed to carve out its own path (pun intended) by being a fun and fully featured snowboard game. Skate It didn’t quite do the same for the Skateboarding world though, only gaining a 6 out of 10, and we had to wait for the much delayed Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 to make an appearance before we saw something that would do the genre justice.
Then came the Apple Announcement on 7th June which changed everything. The iPhone 4 was born and in the hands of gamers by mid July, sporting a brand new Retina Display and faster processor. Games developers were quick to get on board and soon gamers saw the benefits of having an HD display for games. The speedy processor also meant that complicated games ran smoother too.
Despite the growing number of quality 
games now appearing, the winner of ‘most active developer 2010’ really belonged to one company: Gameloft. Let’s Golf 2 improved on their winning cartoon Golf game in so many ways and couldn’t fail to put a smile on faces,Gangstar: Miami Vindication improved likewise on West Coast Hustle and moved even closer to being a full on GTA rival for the format and Real Football 2011 bravely took on FIFA 11 in a head-to-head grudge match which saw EA’s franchise narrowly take the lead, though Gameloft’s footie game had the added benefit of being online from the start.
Ultimate Spider-man: Total Mayhem brought the webbed super-hero to the iPhone in a fun action arcade game and Star Battalion provided a Star Wars style story with frantic space battles, all in High Definition Retina-vision.
Finally, Gameloft returned to the FPS Genre with Modern Combat 2, a sequel that improved on Sandstorm and became THE go-to shooter of 2010, impressing everyone who watched the super-smooth retina action.
Not that other companies were resting on their laurels. EA provided a stunning version of Mirror’s Edge,FIFA11 became arguably the best Football game on the system and Reckless Racing and Need For Speedruled the 2D and 3D highways respectively.
Chillingo provided the addictive Cut The Rope, a game that almost rivaled Angry Birds, as well as allowing gamers to be come a Predator in the game of the film Predators.
At the latter end of the year, Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story ensured that office productivity dropped off as gamers found the Game Developer management sim took up all their time. It really was that addictive and spread by word of mouth, becoming a top seller on the App Store in no time.
But it was at the tail end of the year when one game arrived to eclipse all that had gone before. Join us in Part 3 to find out what that was and to review 2011’s iOS story so far…
