Welcome to the weekly iPhone Quality index (Qi) games round-up, giving you the LOWdown on the HIGH scorers every Friday on these hallowed pages.

Launched in beta by Steel Media, publisher of PocketGamer.biz, Qi trawls the web for iPhone game and app reviews from the world’s most respected online and print sources.

Qi then applies its own magic formula to each site (such as 148Apps, Macworld, IGN, and Gamezebo) to establish a single definitive Qi score for each iPhone app and game.

Front of the grid

Speeding round the App Store corner and into pole position on the Qi charts this week zooms Firemint’s long awaited follow-up to the universally acclaimed Real Racing.

Three first place awards from iPhone games critics overnight have ensured a perfect 10 Qi start to Real Racing 2’s career. Speaking of which, the developer guarantees over ten hours of gameplay across time trials, eliminations, qualifiers, and championships for all would-be Webbers.

While finishing ahead of the competition won’t be easy thanks to aggressive AI drivers, Pocket Gamer didn’t find it difficult to identify Real Racing 2’s strengths: “from damaging modelling to performance tuning to online multiplayer...the result is a sophisticated, fun racer.”

Monster mash

Another high profile sequel in the sci-fi shooting shape of N.O.V.A. 2 has secured a butt-kicking 9.1 Qi rating from three reviews, including a maximum 10 from AppSpy.

In Gameloft’s successor to the hotly received N.O.V.A. campaign, you can take advantage of the iPhone 4’s gyroscope motion sensor as you engage in a bloody civil war on behalf of the Human-Alien Alliance.

Everything from rocket launchers and assault rifles to lightning guns and frag grenades can be utilised to annihilate the Volterite opposition in N.O.V.A. 2. And according to IGN, “everything has been improved, from the inclusion of the monster mechs to the 10-player online matches that work without hiccups.”

Mini Ripley

Aliens have been causing havoc over the past seven days in Max Adventure, too, but they haven’t prevented Imangi Studio’s twin-stick action romp navigating its way onto the Qi rundown.

Armageddon has arrived in the ten-year-old titular star’s neighbourhood, who must battle the extra terrestrial enemies dropping out of the sky and rescue his abducted parents all before bedtime.
Slide to Play commended both the impressive framerate in Max Adventure (“even when the action becomes insanely thick, slowdown is a rare event”) and the fact that it’s “addictive and satisfying and will give you that same sense (as Harbor Master) of ‘Just a little longer’.”

You can get the up-to-date information about which games are reviewing best over at the Quality index.