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Upcoming iPhone games - Temple Run Brave and Mutant Storm

The most exciting iPhone and iPad games on the horizon

Upcoming iPhone games - Temple Run Brave and Mutant Storm
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iOS

Every Friday, we like to finish off the week by looking ahead and talking about the iPhone and iPad games that are just over the horizon.

E3 2012 is a wrap. The Pocket Gamer team is flying back to Blighty, game makers are boxing up their consoles, and the booth babes are putting on some clothes that actually fit.

But, the excitement doesn't stop there. Next week is Apple's turn, as The Big A's CEO Time Cook will host a much-anticipated keynote at WWDC 2012 on iOS. Oh, and OS X.

We're looking forward to covering any major iOS-related announcements from the show - but we're also anticipating these upcoming games...

Note: Dates, prices, and features are subject to change at the whim of the developer and Apple's approval team. Dates were correct at time of publication.

Temple Run Brave
By Imangi Studios - out on iPhone and iPad on June 14th (source)

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It looks like the movie industry has finally wised up and realised that its video game tie-ins might not be that much cop. They've finally acknowledged that those schlocky action games and quick cash-ins are just plain rubbish.

So, instead, App Store heroes like Rovio and Halfbrick are being drafted in and asked to - basically - remake one of their most popular games, but slip in a few references to the movie studio's latest flick while they're there. Thus, we get Angry Birds Rio, Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots and Doodle Jump: Hop.

The latest movie to get this particular tie-in treatment is Pixar's Scottish epic Brave. And this time, Imangi is doing the honours on the ol' reskinning front, redecorating its phenomenally successful Temple Run with Brave-styled decor and wallpaper.

So, you're now Merida, instead of some hapless adventurer. And you're being chased by the demon grizzly Mordu; not evil devil monkeys. The rest is plain Temple Run except for the addition of gaming's most fashionable item: a bow and arrow.

Mutant Storm
By Ninth Ninja - out on iPad in June (source)

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Mutant Storm, a trippy twitch-centric twin-stick shooter, doesn't get as much recognition as Geometry Wars. But, in actual fact, the two games made their debuts almost simultaneously, each playing a key role in reigniting a genre we hadn't really seen much of since Robotron.

The developer of Mutant Storm went for psychotropic dizziness over vectors, dropping you in swirling hypnotic battlefields which made it look like you were fighting in one of the more psychedelic Windows Media Player visualisations.

It didn't get the same cult status as Bizarre's effort, but it still received positive reviews and accrued a hefty fanbase. And now, this bug-blasting headache is coming to iPad.

While the original game was made by PomPom, this iPad port has been handled by a studio called Ninth Ninja: a collection of talents from the likes of True Axis and Firemint. If none of that means anything to you, just know it's in safe hands.

All the old content is in there, including the 89 levels and the dynamic difficulty bands. Plus, the game has been optimised for all three iPads, meaning it should play at 60 frames per second - even on Apple's first tablet. Swish.

Publisher Crescent Moon says it's shooting for a June 14th release date for Mutant Storm - if Apple approves it in time.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer