It’s been an enormous month for major studios bringing major game series to iOS. First we got a port-over of the Nintendo DS's favorite, Scribblenauts, and then Burnout Crash was announced. We also caught wind of a couple of other high-profile stars coming to the App Store in a  easy-to-peruse click-through gallery.

Half-Brick Opens Another Office

The developers of the incredibly successful iOS titles Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride announced this week that they will be expanding down under. Half-Brick office in Sydney, Australia. Halfbrick is one of the App Store’s finest treasures, so we can only hope this results in increased output from the studio.

Rockstar Announces Grand Theft Auto III for iPad 2, 4S

Grand Theft Auto-creator Rockstar Games announced this week that it will be bringing its seminal classic, Grand Theft Auto III, to A5-powered iOS devices. In the short term, it seems like only the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 will be getting the game, but the company has also promised that the game would be coming for “single-core” iOS devices sometime after that. So iPhone 4, iPad, and 3GS owners may be getting the game…at some point. Maybe.

Professor Layton Game Coming to iOS

Nintendo DS owners will likely be very familiar with Professor Layton and his series of critically acclaimed adventure/puzzle games, but for now he’s a stranger in the iOS world. Legendary developer Level-5 will be bringing a Layton-themed title called Mystery Room to iOS, though it won’t star the titular professor. It will instead star his son and partner as members of Scotland Yard’s top investigative unit.

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Upcoming iOS Games You Should Keep an Eye On

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  Crow

  Crow is our artsy game this week. The game is a story-driven experience played by controlling a crow that flies over fields and landscapes. The developers say it’s a game about exploring the game world, but also about making meaningful choices. Boss characters you defeat can be either cursed or spared with each choice having different consequences that have different story possibilities.

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  Combat in the game is controlled like a third-person rail shooter. That is to say, your character flies pretty much on auto-pilot while you aim and shoot things around you. Check out this trailer for a better idea of what the game looks like when all of this is put together.

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  Superman

  We’re not exactly sure why, but superhero games usually stink pretty badly on PC and console. Superman in particular has had a rough go at things, and has appeared in several games considered to be among the worst ever released. On iOS, however, superhero games are amazing. We’re hoping that’s enough to finally give the Man of Steel a decent video game.

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  Apparently, Lex Luthor has found his sense of altruism (hint: not really) and wants to help humanity out with the whole “Climate Change” thing. Players will work their way through about 18 levels, using freeze breath to put out fires, beating up burglars etc.

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  Hank Hazard: Stunt Hamster

  If you’re not instantly interested in a game that includes the words “stunt hamster” then you’d do well to check your pulse. You might be dead. Hank Hazard is the latest physics action/puzzle game to be announced for iOS. While the genre that Cut the Rope built might be a little tired, we can tell Hank Hazard is ready to inject a little life back into it.

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  See, Hank Hazard dreams of being the very first stunt hamster. So he gets into his hamster ball and blasts himself all over the level in pursuit of glory. Even with all of the other great titles on this list, we’re going to have to call Hank Hazard our most anticipated.

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  Battlefield 3: Aftershock

  I doubt we’ll ever have such a spectacular mix of genres in this column ever again. We’ve got an artsy-game, superhero game, stunt hamster game, and now a realistic war shooter.

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  Aftershock will be released this Winter by Electronic Arts to tie-in with their mega-blockbuster Battlefield 3 which will be arriving at the end of October. This single and multiplayer shooter will take players around the globe to shoot people. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’ll probably be great! EA’s iOS offerings have been spectacular over the last few years.

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