Best games for the iPad 3

Slowly but surely, apps for the iPad have been updating to include support for the iPad 3. Here are some of our favourite games ... now with 100 per cent more retina!

AU$7.49
Infinity Blade II is spectacular, and really raised the bar for iPad gaming. Granted, there are a few niggles with the actual gameplay — we'd prefer to be able to free-roam, for example, and some of the swipe moves are temperamental to execute (and in-app micro-transactions seem a bit cheeky when you're already paying for one of the more expensive app store games) — but it looks absolutely incredible, no joke. Now, it's enjoyable in full, iPad-sized retina HD.

AU$0.99
♪Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around!♫

Seriously, though, if you haven't heard of Zen Bound, you should take that rock you've been living under and wind some string around it. Or not. Your decision, we don't mind. But it will be high definition.

AU$5.49
Ooooh, yeah, fighter jets! 3D plane-shooting action! One of the best flight combat sims on the app store!

AU$7.49
In Mass Effect Infiltrator, you play a Cerberus agent who discovers that Cerberus isn't really all that great after all. Like you'd expect from Iron Monkey, it looks spiffing. We have to concede that it isn't the best cover shooter we've played on the iPad, but if you're a Mass Effect fan, it's well worth checking out.

AU$0.99
You're a little paper monster in a little paper world, making little paper jumps and collecting little paper clips. Not only is it an utterly adorable game, it's splendid to play, with a choice of control options and smooth-as-silk controls.

AU$7.49
We're probably not alone in feeling that an iPad might not be the best platform for an MMORPG, but if that's what you're after, Gameloft's Order & Chaos online is about as good as it gets. It has character creation options and a solid level tree, and you can create up to four different characters to play. A note of caution: after the first three months, you can only continue to play the game on a subscription basis, and in-app micro-transactions are included as well.

AU$0.99
While Real Racing 2 HD has also received an upgrade, users are reporting now-buggy gameplay. Not so with Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, which is as smooth and shiny as ever. Shinier, in fact.

AU$0.99
Flight Control Rocket took the air-traffic-controller gameplay we know and love and took it to space, with some really cool upgrades to boot — new craft to navigate and cute little helper robots, in colourful sci-fi fashion. It really is bigger and better.

AU$7.49
As far as first-person shooters on the iPad go, Modern Combat 3 is right up there. It has some great single-player campaigns, but its true glory lies in the multiplayer. Up to 12 players can join in the fun, with six maps and seven modes, as well as customisable weapons.

AU$0.99
This is a strange little game. You're a moustachioed, toothy worm with a clubbed tail chasing a skull-headed, horned foe through hellacious levels filled with all sorts of creepy crawly killing bugs. You can only grip on to objects with your teeth or tail, and only pummel bugs with your tail, so you have to latch on and flail madly in order to get to the level exit. We love it.

AU$2.99
Just what you always wanted — bird-flinging in glorious retina HD!

AU$2.99
If you like being puzzled — really puzzled — you need to take a look at Windosill. It's pretty short, designed to be played in one sitting, but it doesn't throw its punches. Your goal is to get a little toy cart through a series of rooms, and, in each room, the exit door can only be unlocked if you figure out how to interact with the objects in that room. With some gorgeous design as well, it's a great way to spend a chilly afternoon.

Free (additional tables AU$0.99 each)
Pinball? Yes please! This gorgeous iPad app has a number of stunning themed tables for you to download, too, including an AC/DC one, The Deep (pictured), Wild West, da Vinci and Platoon. Does it play well? Of course it plays well, it wouldn't be here if it didn't. But you can try it yourself for free.

AU$2.99
Normally we'd say that gyroscope-controlled games on this platform aren't great, because the iPad gets too heavy, but we make an exception for Pizza Vs. Skeletons. It just looks too amazing, and the gameplay, where you tilt the iPad to roll your giant pizza over the hordes of skeletons, is both simple and fun. We love that you can dress your pizza up in little hats and other accoutrements, too.

AU$2.99
We will never stop loving this game.