With their two mega mobile games Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, Halfbrick had a pretty big presence on the show floor last weekend at PAX East, and I was excited to see what’s next for Jetpack Joyride, one of my favorite iOS games.
If you’ve played Jetpack Joyride, you already know that the game comes packed with vehicle upgrades and additional jetpacks to enhance the gameplay experience, but in an upcoming update, the game will also introduce new “gadgets.”

Purchasable from the stash, you’ll be able to equip two gadgets at a time. These gadgets all have a unique ability. One that I tried out while talking with Halfbrick was a freezing agent, which activated whenever I crashed and allowed me to slide much further before the game ended, increasing my distance traveled. Another power up allowed me to see exactly what vehicle power up lay ahead, instead of the usual shiny power up symbol.

I’m really happy that Halfbrick is going to continue supporting Jetpack Joyride, since it’s a really fun game and adding these gadgets will only make it more addicting to play.

There will be 15 new gadgets in all, which can be purchased using in-game coins.

Jetpack Joyride is currently available for iPad and iPhone for free. The update should be available sometime this month, also at no cost to you, so just start saving those coins!

You can check out the teaser trailer for one of the gadgets, the “Air Barrys”, after the jump.

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If you own an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you have most likely tried the already classic casual title Fruit Ninja. In its first three months, it sold over a million units and continues to top the App Store charts. Players are tasked with swiping through a fruit cluttered screen while not letting any fall off the bottom and avoiding the dreaded bombs. It is a fun frantic minigame that uses a mobile smart phone’s touch technology in an intelligent and rewarding way.

Now Halfbrick has teamed up with Microsoft for the Summer of Arcade to bring Fruit Ninja Kinect to the XBox 360. Using the Kinect motion technology, players hands act as ninja swords to slice and dice apples, oranges and strawberries in one of the most accurate uses for the Kinect since its release.

Gameplay:

In Fruit Ninja Kinect, players must use their arms to slide through flying fruit while avoiding contact with bombs or allowing fruit to fall off the screen. From what we can tell, the Kinect sensor has near pinpoint accuracy in the game allowing for control that is as accurate as it comes for motion gaming. Players can slowly move their arms into position but only when a player speeds up will it count as a sword swipe which is very important for avoiding bombs. An acrobatic player can even use their legs to kick through a wayward pear if necessary.

There isn’t much difference between Fruit Ninja for the iPhone and the Kinect in terms of gameplay mechanics save the inclusion of the pomegranate. Everyone’s favorite source of antioxidants can be used to end timed stages where players can hack away for a few seconds and build up ridiculous combos.

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There has been a definite theme of cute and quirky family friendly games with the releases of Games for the Holidays. The final game in this cross promotional trilogy is ilomilo. ilomilo is the story of two tiny friends who wake up every day at opposite ends of an ever changing park and spend much of their time making their way through obstacles to reach each other. This puzzler can be played with either one or two players and takes a simple concept and put its own imaginative spin on it.

Gameplay:

ilomilo starts off each level with ilo and milo on two opposite ends of a complex structure of interconnected blocks. Moving only one at a time, ilo and milo must alternate moving various objects in the environment around to aid the other in meeting at a center point.

A simple enough sounding concept right? Well the level designers took this and ran with it in a way that they were able to create some incredibly challenging puzzles along the game’s 49 levels.

Some blocks pop out and block the way while others can be picked up and moved, extending bridges or launching ilo and milo over gaps. Through the levels, ilo and milo are guided by their friend Sebastian as they not only attempt to reach each other, but collect hordes of, well, collectibles along the way. These collectibles unlock music and artwork as well as other stages and pieces of letters that help further explain the backstory of ilo and milo’s friendship.

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Raskulls has been one of those XBLA titles coming in just under the radar since its initial reaction at GDC 2010. With only an image of the game’s iconic King who is also featured prominently on the game’s artwork and the simple minded Dragon, Raskulls has made its way to consoles with an underground following, having been mostly promoted through trade shows such as E3 or PAX. It wasn’t until December when it was announced as a part of the cross promotional Games for the Holidays from XBox Live Arcade alongside ilomilo and World of Keflings that people found out that Halfbrick meant business when they were coming up with Raskulls.

Gameplay:

At first glance, Raskulls looks like a simple side-scrolling racing game. Even in the first seconds of the game, players will quickly realize this is far from the case. Similar to a game like DigDug, players are able to blast out bricks next to them to carve a path across maps. Unlike DigDug, Raskulls is an incredibly fast paced game where up to four players at a time are smashing through series of bricks while combating each other with special bonus item powers as bricks topple down around them at the same time.

The most basic modes of Raskulls revolve around racing. Players must either face off against single or multiple opponents or in a timed checkpoint race, hoping to earn the fastest time to success. These races can be compared to a platforming version of Mario Kart. A player is never really down and out as obstacles often impede whoever is in first place to give others a fighting chance. All the while, various weapons are deployed to help stun opponents or blow blocks out of the way faster.

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