It's the 'Appy Android roundup

If there’s one thing the iPhone is missing, it’s emulators. Being as we’re so stuck in the past, we love retro gaming, and want to be able to whip Mario out of our pocket anywhere we go.

So this week, squirrelled away among our other ‘Appy Android goodies, is a Game Boy Color emu that’s been tearing up the Market charts. What with the GBA and the DS, the Color seemed all but forgotten, though the Android emu's success suggests otherwise.

Of course, you’ll need your own game ROMs, otherwise it's illegal.

Tangram Pro (Bendroid) For years and years the tangram concept was a dormant part of Japanese gaming history, then all of a sudden touchscreen videogame systems brough it back to life. Now it's everywhere, including the Android Market. Bendroid's interpretation of the classic silhouette-matching puzzle game doesn't take it easy on itself just because the concept is simple however. The visuals and textures do the ancient Japanese origin proud, while 150 levels ensure you've plenty to go at. And the recent update added another 50 puzzles to the roster, and with more promised shortly, so Tangram Pro should have more than enough to keep fans of the game occupied.
WordWrench (snctlnSoftware) Although snctlnSoftware has the least easy-to-remember company name ever, there’s a chance it’s actually a clever anagram, since its new Android app makes a great job of the old word puzzle concept. WordWrench is a pretty simple anagram game, but enough effort’s been put into its presentation and capability to keep crossword and letter puzzle gamers more than happy. The game asks you to come up with 3, 4, 5 and 6 letter words from the given letters, which is great to increase the difficulty organically while giving you the literary workout word puzzlers so enjoy.
Kidd GBC (Zathki) It’s almost as if the Game Boy Color never happened. What with all the hot hardware we’ve seen in the last few years, it seems the first Game Boy update was easy to forget. But now the Android’s been put to top emulation purpose, with this Game Boy Color emulator. Currently Kidd GBC runs at around 10fps, which is quite tolerable, and seems to work pretty much across the board with your fave GBC games. You’ll need to hunt down your own ROMs to drop on the SD card, however, which brings us back to that whole grey area of (il)legal gaming.
Midnight Bowling (Gameloft) To be honest, of all the possible sports that could effectively be recreated digitally, 10 pin bowling isn’t one we’d ever have expected to see. It’s seen some spiffing adaptations, though, including Gameloft’s popular Midnight Bowling series – now on Android. Using the touchscreen controls, you can travel the world to confront a host of three fingered opponents, putting spin on the ball and pins in the gutter. It even gives you a bit of Blondie (Call On Me) to get your juices flowing while you power those balls down the lane.
Chain React (Jered Windsheimer) Chain reaction games wouldn't work without a good touchscreen, but the G1 is well equipped, so this ultra-simple, yet undeniably addictive freebie is a great game to carry on your Android phone. Different circles create different sized explosions, though Chain Reaction adds an extra element to the usual gameplay - walls. By fencing off strategic areas of the screen, you can shepherd your targets carefully and get the best result from a single touch. It might not sound like much, but chain reaction games are the Fruit Pastels of touchscreen handsets. Yummy chew-chew.