Most hardcore games on iPhone?

Punch Quest (side scrolling arcade) is very addictive!

Other than that, I play Dead Trigger (zombie FPS), Into the Dead (zombie arcade/FPS), Letterpress (word/puzzle/multiplayer), Unblock me (puzzle) Trizen (puzzle) and Road Trip (racing).

There's another game, The Woods, which is extremely creepy.

No multiplayer, but the most 'pure' hard core game I've ran across in awhile is Super Hexagon.

You don't want something same old, same old, but you still want popular?

Console game makers don't want to throw $2 million to make a game that may not do well on mobile devices. Your game is most likely to sell when it's sitting on a shelf with other $20-40 games rather than 50 $0.99 cent ones where yours is the most expensive at $5.99 and similar to the others.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4, while it did pretty good, did not do well enough to continue with the third episode. And that's a pretty big franchise. I'm pretty sure they had to release Sonic Jump to make up some of that loss.

And to answer your question from a closed thread... You have to understand that gaming hardware is very different to that of a computer, a tablet, or phone. They are designed to do one single thing - To play games one at a time, while the others are focused with multitasking and everything else.

And lastly, there are a few routes that developers have to choose and think about which is another obstacle in this whole console games on mobile devices mess...

Emulation - You could either use open source, or spend a few years trying to make a backend emulator to sit behind the original ROM. Most emulators are not perfect though, and because they are supposed to be similar to the original hardware, they bring the same bugs. (I've had Sonic the Hedgehog 2 freeze on me at the same places that the Genesis version does )

A new engine - This worked well for Sonic CD, but it wasn't designed by SEGA, it was an indie developer. It works a lot smoother than the original SEGA CD version. It takes time to develop though, and then you have to port that over to the multiple platforms too.

Or from scratch - No one wants to do this. And it just doubles the amount of time for work to be completed. You might make too many changes that the difference between controls and other things are so drastic.

It's a very crowded marketplace, and retail still is the best option. Every console has their own limitations to begin with too, so adding mobile to the mix is just bothersome.

I've spent £100's over the last couple of years but it really depends what you're looking for to appreciate it.

If you want a 'console' experience then Modern Combat 4 is an FPS with outstanding graphics and multiplayer.

GTA Vice City is a fine example of a port done well too.

Storm Raiders for a flying game.

Lili if you fancy a cutesy exploring 3rd person game.

Just have a good root around the App Store.

I've been playing Hungry Shark Evolution a lot lately. Fun but simple game. Wish there were more console quality games on iOS but can understand why there aren't at the same time given how they would have to charge more. I hope/wish Square would port over Final Fantasy 7 to iOS. Loved that game and would gladly play it again.