iPhone Gaming, Part One

Since last Fall, there's been something of a gold rush on iTunes, with large and small software development shops seeking fortune by selling applications at price points between $0.99 and $9.99.  This gold rush is aided by the low cost of entry to the market.  The software tools required to develop applications for the platform are available free of charge from Apple, and access to iTunes costs a developer only $99. As a result, there are plenty of games available to users of iPhone and iPod Touch, but the lion's share are amateur efforts, facile puzzle games, or quickie ports of established titles.

Sadly, the iTunes interface isn't much help in distinguishing the worthy games from the chaff.  What follows are capsule reviews of three recent ports to the iPhone platform.