This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo--E3--in Los Angeles lacked the full pomp of its prior years; I saw no sponsored helicopters, skate ramps, or parking lots that had been repurposed into booths. And even though the show focused on game systems from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, lots of companies were showing iPhone apps in private and public demonstrations.

I found plenty of shovelware, but several games caught my attention. From Command and Conquer, which is far from launch, to Bananagrams, which will release any day now, great iPhone games were sprinkled throughout the show. These are my favorites.

Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer should effectively shrink much of the strategy and action in the full, recent Mac game, into an iPhone package. It's set ahead of the Mac game, although it still occupies the same, alternate-reality world of Soviet "war-bear" troops and zeppelin bombers. Russians battle the U.S.-and-British allies with similarly fanciful fighters, although the Japanese side has been cut in this edition.

The game I played seemed far from release, merely sketching in the scope of the completed title. But it seems like Command & Conquer will carry similar building upgrades, fights, and strategy as the full Mac game. I was most impressed with the scaling interface that lets you show or hide buttons, making great use of the iPhone screen. And the animation looked smooth, letting me zoom in and out.

As my Russian tanks pummeled enemies, I felt the same twinges of excitement as playing the computer game. EA couldn't give many other details, such as if it will have multiplayer modes, so there's still a lot I don't know. But hopefully, Command & Conquer will fulfill its great potential when it's released sometime later this year.

KENKEN
A Capcom puzzle game, KENKEN, is nearly ready for release; expect it in about one to two weeks. This number puzzle follows some of the rules of sudoku, however, it multiplies its complexity with a math element.

Like sudoku, you fill numbers into a grid, not repeating in the same row or column. Unlike sudoku, KENKEN grids range from 3x3 up to 6x6. You'll fill in the numbers 1-3 in that smallest grid (and 1-6 in the largest) to answer basic math problems. For example, a boxed-in area might require two numbers that add up to 9.

Capcom is also updating current games and working on more. In about three or four weeks, Mega Man 1.5 will be released, adding more difficulty levels and a widescreen control option. Then later, in the third quarter, Capcom will release 1942 and Cash Cab. 1942 is an updated top-down shooter, based on the original favorite. Cash Cab is a version of the Discovery Channel trivia game.

Bananagrams
Majesco's second iPhone game, Bananagrams is due for release any day. The word game is based on a letter-tile board game; I'm intrigued by the concept (and lack of cleanup).

In several modes of play, you're given a few dozen random letter tiles with the task of arranging them into a crossword-style pattern of words. You'll have to use all of the tiles, and speed counts. If you can't get rid of a tile, you can exchange it, but you'll also get three additional letters.

The simple fun should please word fans with single-player, live multiplayer, and turn-based multiplayer modes. Like many recent games, Bananagrams supports Facebook Connect, letting you challenge anyone on that social network in addition to iPhone gamers.

Virtual Families
LDW's next game, Virtual Families, will be released later this month. The family-simulation game shares many similarities with The Sims, but Virtual Families feels more like a pet simulator, taking care of a few characters, while The Sims is more about assuming control of a single character.

Virtual Families manages time well; it copies the current real time into the game, affecting play. For example, at night, your characters are likely to be relaxing at home and watching TV.

But the game's biggest hook accelerates the overall speed of time; one week in real-time is about one character's full lifetime. The single-player persistent world is always advancing, and you can see the family members age and be replaced by the next generation. While there are lots of activities to do, such as collecting bugs or fulfilling other checklists, I'm most interested in connecting with the characters over these accelerated lifetimes.

Robocalypse: Mobile Mayhem
I found many established videogame companies that were beginning to test the iPhone market. Vogster showed me a polished demo of its Robocalypse Nintendo DS game running on the iPhone. The real-time strategy includes all of the content on that DS version and is projected to be released by the end of August.

Penned by writers with credits on Spongebob Squarepants and The Angry Beavers, Robocalypse has an off-kilter story, told through cut-scenes. But I was most interested in the depth of the strategy gameplay in my quick glimpse.

You progress through 17 single-player missions, with typical RTS conventions; manage resources, builders, establish attacking troops, and send them into battle. But a range of mission objectives should give ample variety. At various times, you'll destroy opposing forces, protect areas, escort characters, and more

The game supports Wi-Fi multiplayer matches over the same network, and eventually, it'll be updated for Bluetooth ad-hoc support. Vogster might also add the ability to play through the phone network.

AquariYum!
The Indicate pavilion showcased several iPhone games. Developed by students who had recently graduated and formed Teatime Games, AquariYum! could be an excellent addition to the bloated tower-defence genre. In other games, you build up automated turrets to protect your base from attackers. In this sea-themed game, you build up similar defenses, but an opposing person picks and directs the charge of enemies.

This multiplayer system works between iPhones or through Facebook. Since each player plans the attack and defense in advance, you can complete your "turn" whenever you want; the game combines the two to show the results.

Most of the game unravels autonomously, but I had fun trying to predict the path of attackers (as the defender), or sneak sharks, turtles, and other creatures through a poorly guarded area (as the attacker). During the game, defenders can rapidly tap creatures to activate special powers. That twist just seemed annoying to me, and to waste much of the strategy.

Hopefully that mechanic will be tuned--or it'll make more sense--when AquariYum! comes out in about two months. The excellent art and core concept look great otherwise.

Quick hits... and misses

The previous games were my show favorites, but several others are still worth mentioning. Most have potential, but you should be cautious of some.

Hold your applause until Mass Effect Galaxy gets released in Summer. Gamers familiar with the Xbox and PC title have been looking forward to this self-contained story that fits in before the sequel. I liked the animatic, cartoon style that told the story, but I couldn't get far enough into it to judge its quality.

The shooting parts of the game, however, were disappointing. In top-down maps, you just tilt the phone to move, and the combat gets handled automatically; this felt like a marble-maze game in a bad way.

Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming could be an entertaining puzzle game, but I couldn't fully decypher how it works. You arrange crops in a tile grid, and an automated farmer runs through the field, watering and harvesting. Somehow, the way you arrange crops influences his automated pattern; that's the source of the strategy. Publisher, Natsume wasn't sure when the game will launch, but it should be coming soon.

Baseball Slugger is a simple homerun derby game, where you're just a batter swinging for the fences. While it lacks depth, I had fun tapping the screen to swing and watching the smooth, 3D graphics. Best of all, you can compete live against friends--who are also batting--over Wi-Fi or the mobile connection. Comp2us will release the game in about two weeks.

Droplitz first begins like a Pipe Dreams-style water-routing game, with you arranging pipes to lead droplets across the screen. But you can rotate the pipe titles, and they vanish after use, with new tiles falling into empty places. The version I saw looked a little sparse, but the core puzzle game grabbed me. Atlus will release Droplitz later this month.

The year of iPhone games
Even more companies were demonstrating iPhone games, including Disney Interactive, newcomer Tarver Games, Gameloft, Vir2ual Studios, and Marc Ecko Entertainment. Some of these--and many more--will also be meeting with Mac|Life over WWDC next week to preview more titles. So even though Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft dominate the game industry now, the iPhone has gotten a strong foothold in the games market.