100 Best iOS Games: #25 – #1

Plain and simple, Bastion is one of the greatest games to come out in a long time. Thankfully it has made it onto the iOS where even more people can enjoy all of the action adventure excitement as they journey to put back together a fallen world. The Kid is an everyman who sets out to do anything he can to fix the world and he does this by rebuilding the Bastion. With an array of weapons and upgrades, the Kid and the ever present narrator, set out to rid this flying world of the dark beings that may be lurking after the calamity. Whether you use the newer touchscreen enhanced controls or prefer the classic scheme provided by an on screen control stick and buttons, Bastion is a joy to play. It is one of the most unique and enjoyable action adventure title you're likely to find anywhere.

Here it is folks. Surprised? Well the original Angry Birds is a classic that deserves tons of respect. The world embraced Angry Birds and this gem of a game brought some attention to the possibilities of the iOS as a true gaming platform. The level of fit, finish, and thought that went into each of its levels made it an instant hit. The gameplay was supremely addictive and you'd find yourself playing it at all hours of the night and day in pursuit of that elusive third star and high score. But most of all, Angry Birds was fun. It still is, and always will be.

Fluid controls, beautiful graphics and engaging gameplay are just a few of the reasons to download this amazing looking endless runner. But the most important reason? It's fun as hell. It's a game you'll never delete from your iPhone even if you're runnig out of hard drive space. Say goodbye to those pictures of you and your friends, you'll have to delete them so Ronin can stay in your gaming folder.

It is a rare thing when puzzle games venture into other more narrative driven genres. The Room is a puzzle game that dips its toes into the waters of mystery and intrigue. Unlike most puzzle games where you only solve them for the satisfaction of exerting your own intelligence over a computer and its programmer, you solve the puzzles in The Room for a more enlightened reason. Intrigue. The Room is a game with numerous types of puzzles for you to solve, but it provides you with a different sort of motivation. Your own curiosity is one that drives you along to figure out what goes where and how to solve these mind bending and sometimes quite tricky quandaries. Couple that with some amazing looking graphics on the iPad and you have the recipe for a title worthy of our list of the 100 Best iOS Games. (And the sequel sucks. Sorry.)

One of the most ambitious games in the App Store is this cel-shaded action title that puts you right in the middle of the gladiator lifestyle. That lifestyle consisting of comic book style graphics, a rocking soundtrack, great controls and chopping off the heads of your opponents.

The best tower defense game has to be Fieldrunners 2. This game is the stick to which all other tower defense games are measured. The graphics are cartoony and enjoyable. The gameplay is fast and frantic. The sheer amount of weapons and upgrades you can use is fantastic. What sets Fieldrunners 2 apart is the insane amount of enemies that eventually start storming each level. Each time you prepare for a wave of little guys, it makes you a little bit anxious. Will you survive the next round? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you'll want to go back and play some more.

Original ideas arise from a remix of familiar ones. When you take a farming game and mash it up with a puzzle game, you are left with Puzzle Craft. In this addictive and enjoyable little game, you get to create your own living and breathing village by solving puzzles. You can match up like elements to mine resources from the mountains, or manage your crops with the simplest touch or swipe. The graphics are cartoonish and enjoyable to gaze upon. Puzzle Craft is a game that lets you relax while you play and provides a welcome respite from those games that bombard you with gunshots, screams, and things exploding. We like them too, but sometimes you just need some relaxation.

It's everything you loved about the first Angry Birds Star Wars plus some. Now you can play on the Pork Side and finally get rid of that rebel scum. ABSW II is one of the best sequels in the App Store. If you got burned out on Angry Birds, you need to check yourself, Jedi.

Fetch is awesome. If we didn't know any better, we'd think Pixar made this. Beautiful animation, fun puzzles, a great soundtrack and engaging gameplay. Not only are you tasked with rescuing your dog, you're tasked with trying not to put this game down as soon as you start it up.

The creators of Tiny Tower have another hit on their hands with Nimble Quest. Sharp old school graphics and a fun soundtrack compliment the engaging gameplay, that offers a different experience each time you play.

What is it about black and white games that makes us cry tears of joy whenever we play them? Limbo is a console port done right. The touch controls work great and the visuals are simply jaw-dropping. Pictures don't do this game justice. Trust us when we say this is one iOS experience you don't want to miss out on.

The X-Com series continues and moves from the PC to your iOS device. Enemy Unknown might be one of the pricier games for iOS, but it's worth every penny if you're a fan of the series.

The sequel to the popular Feed Me Oil takes everything you loved about the first game and expands upon it. The beautiful graphics are still there, as are the wonderful controls and challenging stages.

Relive the adventures of Frodo, Sam and those other two dudes as they try and rid the world of that damn ring. This may be a Lego game, but the narrative is so good, the graphics so good, the gameplay so good, you'll forget the fact that the entire world is made out of blocks. Sick of those half-assed LOTR games that have come out in recent years? You can always rely on Lego to give you the best gaming experience possible. Now where's Gollum at?

Our review sums this game up perfectly: The visuals are fantastic, the goofy, upbeat music will put an equally goofy smile on your face, and the controls are tight tight tight. Rayman Fiesta brings exactly what its name promises: a fiesta! It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s smartly made, perfect for anyone who wants to do a little high-speed, high-energy gaming on the go.

What do you get when you merge Star Wars and Tony Tower? You get Tiny Death Star, a game that's as addicting as it sounds. All of your favorite characters are here. Well, at least the ones who like to rule the galaxy. There's so much going on with Tiny Death Star that you'll never get bored. And if you do get bored, Vader will just force choke you until you snap out of it.

You won't object to having the entire Phoenix Wright trilogy on your iOS device! HD ports of everyone's favorite defense lawyer is just what the doctor ordered. If you loved playing this on your DS, you'll love it on your iPhone or iPad. The graphics pop and the story and gameplay is still as fun as you remember it. Never played a Phoenix Wright game? Now's your chance.

Oh, snap! GTA: San Andreas is on iOS? Now you can play one of the best entries in the series on your iPhone. The touch controls were perfectly, all of the content is as you remember it and you can still stomp fools on the sidewalk. This might actually be a better version than the Playstation one. Download San Andreas now and say goodbye to your friends because you'll be playing this all day long.

That little Om Nom has become a mobile gaming icon and the sequel to the original hit is awesome. That hungry lizard thing has weaseled his way into the hearts of millions and they're happy to feed the tiny guy. The title of the game says it all. You have to cut the rope to get a bit of candy into Om Nom's mouth. How and when you cut the rope is completely up to you. With an insane number of levels and a three star rating system that actually makes sense (we're looking at you Angry Birds), Cut the Rope 2 is a hell of a lot of fun. It is more fun than you're liable to have with an actual piece of rope, a lizard, and a piece of candy. Well, maybe not. We know our readers are creative.

Pinball is an age old arcade experience that is just as much fun now as it was 50 years ago. Making the leap to the iOS wasn't a surprising one, but none have done it better than Pinball Arcade. What other pinball games forgot was the variety of real world pinball machines, themes, and flashy graphics available. Why bother making new, weird tables when there are plenty of real world weird ones? The Pinball Arcade lovingly recreates the machines you grew up playing. This is one of those apps that sticks around on your home screen long after the others have been deleted. Every month new pins are being added, keeping the content fresh. You'll play pins you loved as a kid, and experience new ones you never knew existed. It's a must have for any pinball and arcade fan.

If you gave the creators of the original Castlevania some acid and let them play Super Ghouls and Ghosts, even they wouldn't be able to come up with Punch Quest. This game fulfills every man's dream of punching his way through hoards of enemies without ever stopping to look back or even consider that he's in the wrong. In Punch Quest, you just barrel along punching bats out of the sky, skeletons back into the ground, and beasts and bosses into shiny bits of dust. It is one of the few games we know of where you can go from punching a skeleton to leaping onto the back of a dinosaur that shoots lasers out of its mouth. Yeah, it's that awesome.

Two guys have created one of the most clever, fun, and original games imaginable in World of Goo. They've managed to take a physics puzzler and attached so much personality to it, that you start thinking those little balls of goo are your friends. The signs left around the world only serve to draw you in further. What are these little goo balls? What is their purpose? All of these questions will be answered if you just take some time to play one of the most enjoyable games you're liable to find in the App Store.

Pissed that Nintendo won't put Zelda in the App Store? No need to get angry when games like Oceanhorn are out there. It's everything you love about Zelda games wrapped in a pretty iOS package. We could go on and on about how fantastic this game is, but we're pretty sure we've got your attention. If you love Zelda games, download Oceanhorn right now!

Hold on a second -- a fishing game is #2 on our list of the 100 Best iOS Games? Why not? This is everything mobile gaming should aspire to be -- great gameplay, controls, music and it's just downright fun to play. The best part? There are no in-app purchases! If you liked Ninja Fishing, which is a lot of fun, then you'll LOVE Ridiculous Fishing. Now leave us alone... we got a bite on the line!

It's hard to argue with our #1 pick in this list of the 100 Best iOS Games. While we love to fish, we love chopping up monsters even more. The Infinity series comes to a close and this is the best one yet in the series. Stunning graphics, a frame rate that screams on a newer idevices, and the ability to play as two different characters. If you haven't upgraded to an iPhone 5s or newer iPad, Infinity Blade III is the reason to do so.