Another day another game for the iPhone. Today we will be looking at PopCap’s Bejeweled 2 for the iPhone/iTouch. Released on the 19th of August it is currently available for $2.99 (£1.79) from the App Store and is currently in the Top 50 Paid apps having garnered some favorable reviews.

Bejeweled 2 is the first game from PopCap to be released on the iPhone and is arguably their flagship product. PopCap first brought the game as a stylistic “match three”-style action puzzle game to the web garnering many an addicted follower. It was then ported to many mobile devices by the great studio Astraware. With Astraware’s aid Bejeweled helped secure PopCap’s reputation as a premium casual game publisher that even your granny might know about. Bejeweled 2 is the updated successor to Bejeweled that again found itself on many devices branching across Windows Mobile and Palm OS and has now arrived on the iPhone.

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Maintaining the core mechanics that made Bejeweled a success and improving the graphics, sounds and speed of the game, Bejeweled 2 is a fine arcade-puzzler with more than enough addictive qualities to cause sleepless nights or missed meetings. A simple premise of switching adjacent gems to create three or more of the same gem in a row is intuitive and accessible yet keeps you coming back for more. Different modes are available in the current iteration: Classic (untimed) allows you to progress through levels, filling up a progress bar by matching gems; Action (timed) modifies this dynamic with a progress bar that shrinks if you don’t match gems quick enough, which can get pretty intense; and of course the more relaxed Endless mode where you just keep matching gems without fear of failing. Bejeweled 2 also brings with it powerups in the form of ‘Power Gems’ and ‘Hyper Cubes’ made by matching 4 or 5 gems together respectively. Power Gems explode when matched with corresponding gems taking out a square of gems around them. Hyper Cubes remove all of one type of gem from the board in a blaze of electricity when swoped with them allowing you to clear out a large chunk of the board in one go.

The now defacto saved state is present in the app allowing you to exit to the home screen, take a call or text and save your place in the game to go back to when you have more time. The graphics in the game are also top notch with smooth animations between levels and sparkling gems on the playing board. The sound effects are pretty well implemented too and allow you to either have music from the game or play your own which is a nice touch. You can also play in either portrait or landscape which keeps your hands happy during extended play. All in all it’s a fine outing for Bejeweled 2 on the iPhone and brings all the charm and fun of the originals updated for your finger touch.

At the current price of $2.99 (£1.79) it’s well worth the money. This is another app that’s likely to stay put on my iPhone as one of the staple fall backs.