Exclusive: Chillingo announces 3GS only Toki Tori Deluxe

With PSP Minis look set to include a fair few upgraded versions of iPhone games in their line-up, a la Fieldrunners, the onus is on the iPhone to keep pace with Sony’s aggressive play for the snackable gaming market.

Enter iPhone hero Chillingo, which is taking its first step towards keeping the iPhone and the PSP on an even keel in the visuals department by releasing a souped up 3GS only version of Toki Tori.

We had a chance to sit down with Chillingo Director Chris Byatte at GamesCom last week and he explained: “What we will be aiming for is to get Toki Tori to match, and in some cases surpass, the graphical fidelity of the WiiWare original of Toki Tori.”

Fighting talk indeed, and with additional particle effects, more environment layers, more moving objects and better interactive cut-scenes mooted, it’s clear that Toki Tori Deluxe is going to deliver on its namesake.

Early adopters of the 3GS have had very little to show for their upgrade so far, so it’s encouraging to see an established iPhone publisher like Chillingo getting to grips with the extra grunt so soon.

But with many developers still waiting by the sidelines to see how the market develops, taking the plunge now might well prove to be the smart move.

It’s very likely that a third generation iPod touch will make it to market before Christmas, so chances are the number of devices capable of running upgraded versions of iPhone games is going to climb steeply before long.

Who knows, if Toki Tori Deluxe is successful it might even pave the way for an upgraded version of the phenomenal Zen Bound - fingers crossed. We can only dream, in the meantime, feast your eyes on the screenshots above.