Unlike most flight shooters, which either reference historical wars or futuristic battles, 1951 - World War One creates an alternate history that those interested in the past World Wars may find intriguing.  In its universe, WWI happens in 1951, with entirely different players at the helm.

A lot of thought went into setting up the premise, which explains a lot of the background stuff you'll need to get into the game.  Without two world wars, for instance, there hasn't been much impetus to advance technology, so the game's 1951 looks like our actual reality during the turn of the century.

As a game, 1951 - World War I is a top-down aerial shootfest.  It's nothing spectacularly new, but the realistic graphics and exciting gameplay make it a fresh experience altogether.

You pilot a biplane high above Europe, taking down enemy aircrafts while avoiding damage yourself.  What makes the visuals so breathtaking aren't the 3D planes themselves, but the scrolling landscape below and the varying weather patterns that vibrantly take place around you.

Enemy planes scatter about the aerial landscape while you traverse it, so ending up in a collision with one is just as likely as getting hit with their ammunition.  For the most part, you'll have to chase enemies yourself (instead of having them come to you like traditional shooters), adding extra difficulty to the work of actually taking them down (which takes anywhere between 10 to 15 hits).   Movement is achieved by tilt controls, while shooting and other extra actions (such as repairs) are done by tapping on the screen.  You can also regulate speed via an onscreen slider.

It offers two single-player modes: Wave and Survival.  The first takes you through a series of enemies, each one larger in size than the one before.  The latter, on the other hand, just has you staying alive for as long as you can manage.

Overall, 1951-World War One makes for an exciting aerial shooter.  In some ways, it's like the arcade classic 1942, only with better graphics, smarter opponents and very precise action.  It's available from the App Store for $1.99.

[Treehouse Ltd]

Chopper was of the best action games available when the App Store originally went live three years ago.  Over 350,000 downloads later, its sequel has finally arrived in the form of Chopper 2.

Retaining the original's "shoot and rescue" formula, as well as its side-scrolling gameplay, the game's most marked improvement comes in the form of the revamped 3D engine, which delivers dramatic visuals with incredible depth.  With 12 distinct locations in the game world, it makes for some of the most amazing visual experiences an App Store title has ever produced.

In Chopper 2, you commandeer a whirlybird to accomplish 36 missions, dodging missiles, canyon walls and flocks of birds (among other things) along the way.  Terrains are varied and detail-rich, including settings such as deserts, cities and countrysides.  Missions, fortunately, aren't the same at every level.  In fact, you get several types, including search and destroy, rescue ops, caravan defense and more.  Enemies are equally diverse, ranging from ground troops to anti-aircraft turrets to hostile choppers.

The tilt control, which you'll use to fly the helicopter, is not your usual kind, implementing a nonlinear, stepped system that attempts to mimic an actual chopper's control response model.  If you're using an iPhone 4, it enables even more precise control by engaging the handset's gyroscopes.  Your weapons (cannons, bombs and missiles) can be aim-controlled using finger swipes.  Alternative control via a virtual stick is also available.

Gameplay is extremely polished, offering challenging levels and fleshed-out battles that make for plenty of fun.  If you have an iPad along with your iPhone, you can tether both devices too, watching the game on your iPad's screen all while handling the controls using your phone.

Chopper 2 is currently available at a launch price of $2.99 (it will become $4.99 later) and is, easily, one of the highest-quality productions ever for an iPhone game.  You won't be disappointed.

[Majic Jungle Software]

You know creativity is at a high when a studio can make a game about paint and have it deliver an action-packed experience. That's exactly what Atakama Labs did with Freaking Inkies, a wacky monster-shooting game for the iPhone that sees you destroy enemies by nailing them with paint bullets of matching colors.

Three half buttons (really - half buttons) go on either side of the screen, each of them coming in one primary color (red, yellow and blue). You'll have to put your thumbs on both half buttons of the right color if you want to fire, with aiming managed by tilting the handset from side to side. The right color, by the way, is determined by the monster. Blue monsters need to be shot with blue paint and so on. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it gets complicated (and more fun).

Not only do you get monsters (which are actually the Freaking Inkies, by the way) in primary colors, you get them in secondary too (green, orange, purple and so on). To hit them with the right ammunition, you'll have to press the proper mix of button colors, such as one thumb on red and one thumb on blue for purple. As you can imagine, this makes playing just a tad more complicated. The actual gameplay is fast and frantic, making the color-combining mechanics a real challenge.

That original monster-shooting gameplay alone is worth the price of admission, but Freaking Inkies gets even better. In the main 100-level challenge mode, it incorporates a whole lot of other things that add depth to the action, such as a paint monster slot machine and shooting monsters in the dark. Graphics are very pretty, with attractive sepia backgrounds, contrast with colorful monsters and paint splatters. Controls feel accurate too, especially the tilting response.

Overall, Freaking Inkies is just a very unique, extremely fun game that's bound to perk up even the most jaded mobile gamers. Well worth the $2.99 price.

[Akatama Labs]

The number of impressive games coming out on the iPhone never ceases to amaze me.  Here's another one to put right up there with your collection of absolutely brilliant titles - Space Miner: Space Ore Bust.

In the game, you play the nephew of a galactic mining station owner.  He asks you to help him with his ore mining operations and you comply.  On your way to the mines inside your raggedy space vessel, however, things get awry.  Instead of spending your time in peaceful labor at Uncle Jeb's, you end up getting sent to a series of places to retrieve ores contained inside asteroids.  So you blast those heaps of rock in space, collecting as much ore as you can for a greater cut of the profit.

Ore is your way to make money in the game, which you can then use to stock your ship with a bevy of powerful enhancements.  The asteroid combat is way, way fun, especially when paired up with the entertaining banjo soundtrack.  What makes it really take off, however, is the fact that it's not just all about asteroids.

The game brings a total of 24 well-done missions, with a fun story to tie everything together and lots of perfectly-timed comedic moments.  There's good variety, too, with tasks such as destroying a giant robot and rescuing tourists floating aimlessly in space.  Suffice to say, it's tough to get bored with such a diverse mix of items integrated into the gameplay.

Even though it looks like an Asteroids clone at first glance, Space Miner: Space Ore Bust is just way, way more than that.  It's easily one of the most entertaining, most diverse games in the App Store - a definite "must-have" if a game ever deserved such a label.  Reasonably priced too at only $4.99.

As the first (of many, I expect) third-person shooters on the iPhone, Terminator: Salvation breaks some ground.  Like many games tied to movies, though, it's more of a half-assed implementation than a serious effort.

In the game, you play as both John Connor and Marcus (the new character from the movie), making their way through post-apocalyptic LA all the way to the heart of Skynet's headquarters.  The Marcus character is almost an aside, briefly added to more tightly attach it to the film, as he is only available on a two-part mission, without any sensible storyline to make his presence integral to the game.

Like any self-respecting third-person title, you get an arsenal of weapons (shotgun, assault rifle, grenade launcher and surge cannon) which you can switch through and fire at will.  The objects of your attack include a number of enemy characters, including foot soldiers, T-1 tanks and T-600 Terminators.  Unfortunately, the game's AI borders on the ridiculous, with enemy Terminators offering no challenge at all to defeat.  While you get to time your shots and find cover (yes, you get to hide behind stuff), all they do is walk towards you and attack.  There are booby traps and land mines all over, though, so you'll need to watch out for those, perhaps even more so than your dumb combatants.

Graphics aren't the best on this game, which is pretty disappointing.  What better opportunity to take advantage of the iPhone's display prowess than a robot game, right?  There's a good variety in environments and backdrops, but they all suffer because of the low-quality appearance the game has been created in and the lack of any interactivity.

All complaints aside, it's pretty exciting to see the iPhone finally get a third-person shooter, backed by such a popular franchise, no less.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many.  On a very positive note, Terminator: Salvation includes an unlockable feature that allows you to play the game as a T-600 Terminator.  Now, that's badass.

Via IGN