New iPhone games - Bit.Trip Run!, Thor: The Dark World, and more

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Every Thursday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's new iPhone and iPad games, in words and video.

As ever, it has been a week full of diverse new games on the App Store.

We've been manning the counter in a UK chippy, gunning down aliens with a convoy of robots, and defending Asgard with a mythological hammer.

No one could possibly play all of these games. Well, we do. But that's our job. For everyone else, however, here are some first impressions of all these new iOS releases.

Look out for full reviews of these games on the site soon.

Bit.Trip Run!
By Gaijin Games - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.49 / $3.99)

Bit.Trip Run! is an auto-runner. Yep, like Rayman Jungle Run and friends. It's way more exacting and way less forgiving than you'd imagine, though. That makes it sound horrid, but it's actually a thrill when you get to grips with the game and pull off some amazing runs.

Not least because the game's catchy soundtrack is linked to your movements, so the songs play out in time to each jump, slide, spring, and kick you perform.

The controls in this iOS version (it's a port of console game Runner 2) aren't perfect: there's a little lag before jumping, which can throw you off. But you'll get it. And when you do, you'll discover a barmy, feature-packed, and addictive little game.

Like its predecessor, Papa Sangre II is a game without graphics. The hostile inhabitants of its eery afterlife (and your guide, Sean Bean) are conjured up via three-dimensional sound, and pumped into your brainbox via stereo headphones.

You simply tap on four corners of the screen to walk and clap, and spin your entire body in circles to move around. Playing this ultra-immersive game with your eyes shut and the sound up loud is a surprisingly unnerving experience.

A perfect game for Halloween, then, but definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Chippy
By Glitche.rs - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)

Chippy is a hectic time-management game in which you work behind the counter of a traditional English chip shop. You have to fry chips, batter fish, cook sausages, and wrap up meals in newspaper.

The individual steps are often quite easy, but it becomes a brilliant car crash of burnt fish and unhappy customers when you get overwhelmed. It also boasts silly physics - which are always great fun - and cute cartoon art.

Pocket God: Ooga Jump
By Bolt Creative - buy on iPhone and iPad (69p / 99c)

Pocket God was a very inventive god game. This spin-off is far less original. It's Doodle Jump, just set on a tropical island and with those iconic inhabitants as the jumpers.

It contains some interesting obstacles (like giant meteors, killer ants, and wind that blows you off-course), and some gruesome death scenes to go with them. Otherwise, though, this is a pretty typical endless game with objectives, boosts, and leaderboards.

Anomaly 2
By 11 bit studios - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

Anomaly Warzone Earth was the original "reverse tower defence" game, where you played as the invaders instead of the defenders. Your job was to plot a path of least resistance and supply your creeping units with power-ups and repairs.

In gorgeous sequel Anomaly 2, 11 bit adds to that formula with fresh tactical options and new features. You can now transform your robot units into mechs with different abilities, for example. And there's full online multiplayer, with one player defending and the other attacking.

Thor: The Dark World
By Gameloft - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

What's the smartphone equivalent of a button basher? 'Touchscreen tapper'?

Whatever the phrase, Thor: The Dark World is that. So, yes, it's a rather boring game where you tap on ice trolls and marauders until they go all dead. Oh, and a bad Chris Hemsworth impersonator says something silly.

Sure, you can recruit a team of backup soldiers. And you can lob Mjolnir and cast lightning, but the controls make doing so unpredictable. It's also 'freemium-ed' to Asgard and back, with three different currencies to worry about.

Axes & Allies
By Everplay - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

Everplay's vaguely enjoyable Axes & Allies is a bit like Flight Control. Instead of sending planes to airports, mind, you're guiding ugly trolls to undead warriors.

You do so by drawing paths on the screen. You can send a fighter across the battlefield, tell an archer who to strike, or tell your mage who to heal. It's a little fiddly, but it does the job. It gets repetitive quickly, though.

Vlad
By Bulkypix - buy on iPhone and iPad (99p / 99c)

Vlad is an auto-runner with a difference. This time, you see, you're manipulating the environment rather than the hero. As this weird dustball creeps through the level, you must move these chunky blocks to make platforms or destroy obstacles.

It's got a surreal art style and loads of content. It's alright, but fiddly controls make it less fun than it could be.

Juice Cubes
By Pocket PlayLab / Rovio Stars - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

Juice Cubes is the latest game from Rovio Stars, the publishing arm responsible for Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage and Tiny Thief. This one is far less inventive. In effect, it's another one of those games where you trace a path through three or more adjoining gems of the same colour.

Juice Cubes DOES contain some good ideas, though. You make a bomb if you match four or more fruits, but the way you finish your stroke dictates the direction in which the bomb will blast. Things like that.

Alas, Pocket PlayLab clearly attended the Candy Crush School of Monetisation, which is quite off-putting. A perfectly playable game, then, but perhaps not up to Rovio's usual high standards.

Backyard Monsters Unleashed
By Kixeye - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

Don't call it a clone. This might look like the latest Clash of Clans-alike, but the Facebook edition of social strategy game Backyard Monsters predates Supercell's juggernaut by two years. Now, you can see where it all started... on iOS.

Monster Loves You!
By Radial Games - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)

An interactive story where you pick actions and adventures for your Monsterling. You'll have to balance your different skills and make smart choices if you want to secure the future of Monsterkind. Cute kid-friendly stuff.

Soccer Moves
By Fuzzy Logic - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

A free-to-play football game in which you try to outwit defenders and goalies in a limited number of moves. You'll need to chip, dribble, and curve. Oh, and you can dress up your player in various silly costumes.

Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle Part 2
By Bulkypix - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

If you could stomach the first chapter of Pendulo's charmless point-and-click mishap, you'll be excited to know that Part 2 is now available to download. Expect puzzles, varied locations, and a cast of unlikable characters.