iPad games of the week: Smurfs' Edge edition

Game: Geometry Wars: Touch
Price: $0.99 / %26pound;0.59
Size: 41.5MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

In honor of Bizarre Creations, following recent news of a potential sale or closure by Activision, let's flash back to the iPad version of one of the studio's greatest games, which is now available for just $0.99.

Geometry Wars: Touch compiles all of the content of 2008's Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 in one portable package, and while we'd easily recommend the Xbox 360 controller over the iPad touch screen, Touch captures enough of the fidelity to make this well worth your dollar. Hell, we spent $9.99 on this when it first came out and still thought it deserved a place on our iPad home screen.

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It's so easy to get sucked back into Pacifism, Deadline, and the other excellent game modes, and with the same kind of always-on leaderboards as the Xbox Live Arcade version, you'll be gunning for high scores for hours. Don't miss it.

Game: Fruit Ninja HD
Price: $4.99 / %26pound;2.99
Size: 33.2MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

Slicing food on a touch screen probably sounds simplistic and dull %26ndash; hey, it worked for Cooking Mama %26ndash; but Fruit Ninja HD entertains beyond expectations by keeping the action lively and unpredictable.

Fruit Ninja was a lot of fun on iPhone and is arguably better on iPad, as the larger screen makes for more precise fruit-slashing and even more hectic scenarios. Depending on the game mode, you'll not only be tasked with slicing each and every piece that is tossed onto the screen (style points for gutting multiple pieces in one swipe), but also avoiding bombs that pop up amidst the bushels of delicious delicacies.

Plus, the iPad version includes a split-screen multiplayer mode, letting you and a pal command opposite ends of the screen in your fruit-slashing conquest. The price point might seem a little high for such a basic concept, but Fruit Ninja HD is one of those addictive must-haves that we keep coming back to again and again.

Game: Edge
Price: $2.99 / %26pound;1.79
Size: 15.6MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

Edge's primary claim to fame is no doubt its multiple (temporary) App Store delistings at the hands of a shady trademark-holder who groused about its name. It returned for good earlier this year %26ndash; and thanks to EA, which suffered a similar complaint regarding Mirror's Edge, the trademark has been surrendered %26ndash; and a recent update made Edge a universal app with native iPad support.

All that legal drama would've been more easily overlooked if not for the quality of Edge, which has been highly reviewed and frequently recommended by fervent fans since its release almost two years back. Simple and stylish in nature, Edge sees you guiding a cube through increasingly challenging mazes, speeding through the obstacles to notch the fastest time while collecting all the floating icons along the way.

Kudos to Mobigame for emerging from the trademark mess with Edge intact, and furthermore for issuing a universal iPad update free of charge. Edge is widely regarded as one of the best iOS games out there, and it's well worth the $2.99 to find out why on iPad or iPhone.

Nov 23, 2010