Fresh iPhone Apps for July 7: Magnetic Baby, Pixel Racer, Swords and Soldiers, Elusive Ninja (Appolicious)

Kick off the weekend a touch early with four new games from the iTunes App Store. Leading the charge is Magnetic Baby, a game that combines tilt controls with the skillful use of gravity to move a character around a small galaxy of planets to create a fresh physics puzzler. After that is Pixel Racer, an old-school racing game that’s all about quick reflexes. Swords and Soldiers is a mix between the real-time strategy, tower defense and role-playing genres, and Elusive Ninja challenges you to stay alive as long as possible by dodging ninja stars and bundles of dynamite.

Magnetic Baby (iPhone, iPad) $0.99

In a galaxy filled with tiny planets, you control a little orange ball guy who has been separated from his ball girlfriend. In order to reunite with her and finish each of Magnetic Baby’s stages, you have to throw yourself from planet to planet, using speed and gravity to your advantage. Along the way are stars you can retrieve that count toward your high score in each stage as you bounce from one planet to another, trying to get to the end as quickly as possible. To get all the stars, you’ll have to use precision movements and skill.

Magnetic Baby includes three ways to play, allowing you to switch between tilt controls, touch controls and a virtual pad to control your character. You get 63 levels for your buck, as well as Game Center support so you can see how you stack up against other players.

Pixel Racer (iPhone, iPad) $1.99

Simplicity is the key to Pixel Racer. In it, you pilot one of several race cars on an 8-bit course built entirely of right angles. Rather than test your skill at tilting to drive like more realistic racing games, Pixel Racer is all about reflexes, requiring you to make quick, one-button turns to avoid crashing and notch up the fastest time you can on each course.

You get access to 10 racers over 24 courses, and each racer goes faster than the last, earning you better times but requiring quicker reactions. Game Center support lets you see how your times stack up against other players around the world.

Swords and Soldiers (iPhone, iPad) $2.99

There seems to be no end to iPhone castle defense titles, but Swords and Soldiers works on the formula by mixing it with role-playing game elements. In each stage, you’ll gather resources by mining gold, upgrade your troops, summon soldiers and wage war against enemy forces who are marching against your base.

Swords and Soldiers takes you across three battle campaigns using soldiers from various lands and eras. There’s also a Skirmish mode, which lets you play battles outside of the campaign whenever you want, and Game Center support to supply the game with achievements and leaderboards.

Elusive Ninja: The Shadowy Thief (iPhone, iPad) $1.99

Elusive Ninja employs a great, cartoonish art style to drive its simple gameplay. You control a ninja under attack, with flaming arrows, ninja stars and explosives flying your way. The goal of the game is to avoid getting killed by them for as long as possible, using touch controls to dodge different weapons as they come flying at you, while catching sushi to replenish your health. The longer you survive, the higher your score.

There’s not much else to Elusive Ninja – it’s simple but challenging, requiring some fast reflexes to rack-up a high score. It also features support from OpenFeint and Game Center, which tracks your scores and let you see how you stack up against other Elusive Ninjas all over the world.

Download the free Appolicious iPhone app