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The iPhone Updates Update v1.3: iFPS Online, Low Grav Racer...

...Flight Control, Perfect Balance: Harmony and DinoSmash Online

The iPhone Updates Update v1.3: iFPS Online, Low Grav Racer...
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If you haven’t yet been snared by Firemint’s time-sapping, instant classic, Flight Control, then all we'll say is – if you value your life, your loved ones and just generally functioning as a competent human being – it might be best to stay away. Seriously, it’s that addictive.

Actually, we couldn’t in good conscience genuinely advocate abstinence of such a great game, especially with the excellent update detailed below. Get out there and play it – modern life’s overrated anyway.

As for the other titles this week, there’s probably more fixes than there is new content, but there’s still the occasional gem in there (here’s looking at you Low Grav Racer) so read on for the full breakdown of what you should be returning to for seconds (or thirds) on the App Store this week.

This week’s top five

iFPS Online v1.1

ifps onlineiFPS Online may not have been the most praiseworthy of titles when it first came out, but that’s what updates are for, right?

Whatever your stance on first-person shooters on the iPhone, there’s no denying that iFPS Online is at least functional at its core and hopefully this little clutch of improvements should push it past 'merely playable' and into the coveted realm of 'rather enjoyable'.

You can now pick one of seven player colours to help you distinguish exactly who you are raining down ten tonnes of whoop ass death on. The controls have been given a good shake down too, with the joystick and fire buttons now interchangeable for left- and right-handed players.

There’s also a Zone control option so you can touch anywhere on the screen as opposed to exclusively on the joystick button.

Perhaps most important of all though is that addition of a Lag icon to indicate when the internet is creeping along at a sloth’s pace. Should make the filtering of lag prone players all the easier, which is a harsh but necessary function for an online deathmatch FPS game.

Hopefully that little lot should see iFPS Online through to glories formerly denied to it. Do let us know in the comments.

iTunes link Low Grav Racer v1.4

low grav racerThe buzz at the moment might be about Cobra Mobile’s thoroughly exciting iBomber, but that doesn’t mean that the developer is already turning its back on its older titles.

The eminently capable hover fest, Low Grav Racer, has just got its latest update, this time in the form of a bonus track. No major fixes needed here, so it’s nice to see that Cobra Mobile has busied itself with some fresh content rather than squat languidly on its hind quarters.

Could this be the first of many new tracks to be added on a regular basis, or just a one-off bonus? Hurry up and download the update so that Cobra Mobile is encouraged to plump for the former approach.

iTunes link Flight Control v1.2

flight controlThe iPhone game that, as it is, ought to come with a government health warning just got even more dangerously addictive. The Flight Control update features two new airfields – a beachside and an aircraft carrier – as well as five new aircraft, including a seaplane and a navy jet.

There’s also a new button that fast-forwards the game, which Flight Control veterans will no doubt find very useful, provided they use it with care. There are new network features, too, to facilitate the renewed bluster about air traffic control heroics that’s set to erupt in the wake of this update.

You no longer need to supply an email address to register your high-score and there are new in-game scoreboards that detail your personal bests, as well as those of any other players in the vicinity, regardless of rank.

For people who are already addicts, these words are wasted as you have all already abandoned your browsers to play the game. For the rest of you, what are you doing with your lives? Get playing this now!

iTunes link Perfect Balance: Harmony 1.0.2

perfect balanceThough we haven’t strained this title through our sieve of judgement yet (which hangs on the wall next to our whisk of destiny), Perfect Balance: Harmony has been quite a hot topic in our forums. Given how full on this latest update is, it looks set to spark the forums aflame with chatter once more.

The meat of the update is in the ten extra levels that have been added, along with a virginal set of achievements just waiting to be ticked off. Besides that, there’s a slew of graphical, audio and bug fixes, as well as some UI tweaks and better tutorial levels. Several good reasons to give it a try, then.

Be sure to let us and the developer, ttursas, know what you think in the forums.

iTunes link DinoSmash Online v1.1

dinosmashImproving a game that’s already about heavily armed prehistoric lizards having a royal ruck with a circus of ballistics weapons is impossible in the minds of most mortals.

Even so mindful of community criticisms, Eurocenter has made good with a sundry list of much needed fixes, based on the advice of DinoSmash Online players.

The main feature add on is the new character customisation options, which, combined with the new team colours, should make telling who’s who during the frantic thrashing of tails and claws that bit less tricky.

There’s also a new zoom out function and the sound effects have been given an orderly telling off, so that not too many of them play simultaneously. This should cut down on the crashes, which have been annoyingly frequent in the older build.

iTunes link