The Trawler Report: We feel the App Store’s gravitational pull with Captain Galactic and Topple 2

The big boys are back again this week, with Trawler entries from Gameloft, Digital Chocolate, Capcom, Chillingo and ngmoco.

As much as we love indie developers - they make the App Store the interesting place it is - our heads still get turned occasionally when we see what bigger budgets, and development teams that you couldn’t fit into a broom closet, result in.

We’ve got a full freebie, too, as ngmoco drops the price of Topple 2 to zilch to celebrate the Plus+ iPhone gaming social network. As is often the case, there’s a theme running through multiple entries this time, too: gravity.

There’s something about the iPhone that encourages the development of lots of physics games, and we’ve got two corkers for you this week, both warded over by that beguiling force that keeps all of our feet firmly planted to the ground.

The best free iPhone games on the App Store

Captain Galactic: Super Space Hero Lite
By Digital Chocolate
What is it? It’s a gravitational super hero game
Type Demo

We’re all in favour of long titles if they help you understand the game better, but if we’re honest either side of the colon would have done in the case of Captain Galactic: Super Space Hero. It’s a bit like calling a game World War: Global Conflict - all a bit unnecessary.

Thankfully, Captain Galactic’s gameplay chops are easily fierce enough to make you forget all misgivings once you get into the game itself.

You're the eponymous hero and you have to fly around space, cruising between the gravitational pulls of planets as you rescue people and collect coins. It’s a bit like what might have resulted if Mario Galaxy had been fronted by Sonic.

This free version features the first four missions from the full game and is well worth a download.

Inkvaders Lite
By Chillingo
What is it? A side-scrolling shoot 'em up
Type Demo

Sometimes, style can go a long way. While Inkvaders’s fantastic sense of style doesn’t quite get it through the distance of a full game, as Tracy found out, it keeps you gawping throughout this demo version.

Aliens have invaded and it’s up to you to blast the lot of them. Inkvaders is drawn in cut-out style, as if animated using pieces of hastily chopped paper.

Gameplay is perilously simple. You just have to make your way from one end of a flat level to the other, blasting and lifting off using your jetpack using touchscreen buttons. While Inkvaders isn’t perhaps a must-buy, its look is worth experiencing.

Resident Evil 4 Lite
By Capcom
What is it? It’s out for brains at last
Type Demo

We’re not quite sure exactly why it’s taken so long for the free version of Resident Evil 4 to lumber out of the shadows - after all, Resident Evil Degeneration’s freebie brain-nibbler has been lurching around the App Store for a while.

Still, we’re glad it’s here. Resident Evil 4 is based on perhaps the most acclaimed game in this survival horror series, and it lets you strafe about an apocalyptic zombie-infested world as you please.

The Lite version includes the whole first chapter of the full game, which should keep you horror fans destroying zombie brains for a while.

Gangstar: West Coast Hustle
By Gameloft
What is it? It’s GTA, but don’t say we told you that
Type Demo

Gameloft’s always had a habit of subtly - okay, maybe not that subtly - basing their games on huge console franchises. Gangstar is its crack at Grand Theft Auto.

Although the series has been doing the rounds on mobile for years now, this iPhone version really got our attention with its full-3D, fully roam-able city environment.

The Lite version lets you explore a chunk of the city and try out the first few missions. One of the most ambitious games yet seen on iPhone, at least in the sense of trying to port over a console-like experience, Gangstar’s free version is one to check out this week.

Our Tracy thought highly of it, too, awarding it one of our shiny Silver Awards when it was released back in August.

Pick of the Week

Topple 2
By ngmoco
What is it? It’s Tetris meets Tower Bloxx
Type Full

We’ve said it before - ngmoco isn’t half good to us. It brought us the wonderful Rolando series and now it's gone and given us yet another full freebie, following on from the original Topple and Dropship.

Topple 2 sees you manhandling blocks of various shapes and sizes, each of which is at the mercy of the game’s gravitational physics once it leaves your grasp. You have to form a tower out of the blocks, trying to get it to a certain height within a time limit in order to progress.

It’s a simple premise, but Topple 2 is a big step forward from its predecessor, giving the premise more gameplay bulk. It’s this week’s must have.

Crap Apps Box of Shame Award

Poop the World
By SWS Digital
What is it? It’s craptacular, craptastic. It’s crap
Type Full

Hold the press, Poop the World is finally free-to-download. It’s a truly important app that brings all-new meaning to the term ‘Crap App’. It lets you tell the world about your motions - yes, those ones - describing the texture, look and smell of your foulest creations.

If you’re really a bit perverse, you can even post them on Twitter. So, not only can you tell the world that you’re off to the bog, but you can now give them precise details about the state of your bowels. Squishy, firm or a formless liquid, it’s all here in Poop the World. What more could you want?

Ridiculous nastiness aside, Poop the World is a well-made app that raised a smile. Just don’t expect us to follow you on Twitter if you actually take to it.