iPhone and iPad may not seem like "proper" video game devices with their lack of buttons, but apart from action-intensive games, iOS is a perfectly viable portal for 2D games. Here are some candidates for great iPhone and iPad games, based on existing properties.
The classic, visceral turn-based strategy game that is already being remade for consoles (which, mind you, have less processing power than the new iPad) has a perfect niche for itself on iOS, which desperately needs mature, "hardcore" strategy games. Great for a quick session or a slow-burn, with a simple presentation made for a touchscreen.
A true version of Sid Meier's longrunning turn-based strategy game belongs on a touchscreen that can last all week on a single charge. Game Center integration, too, would be a welcome addition, while the Retina display and graphical horsepower of iPhone 4S and the new iPad could really show off these titles in ways not even a PC could match.
Nintendo has been impressively stubborn against porting some of the older, pretty much expired, properties beyond their own hardware. Chief among them is Pokemon, which would undoubtedly sell gangbusters on iPhone, with little extra work needed to spruce it up for the current generation of Pokemon trainers. Meanwhile, it costs a fortune to try to punch up later releases on current Nintendo hardware, so much so that they aren't even going to try with 3DS yet.
Navigating the overworld might be less-than-ideal on a touchscreen, but combat would work just as well as a controller. iOS could sure use funny, intelligent RPGs on the platform, and Paper Mario is an excellent ambassador on both counts. Also, paper graphics + Retina display = drool.
Another legendary Nintendo property begging for a rerelease on iOS, and totally in need for Game Center integration. Dual Strike and Days of Ruin already have touch-based controls on DS, to boot.
AoE is slower and more methodical than its cousin StarCraft, and more approchable and relax than Rise of Nations. A clone, "Age of Empire," already exists in iPad, which is proof that interest is on the platform.
Monkey Island and Sam & Max already made the jump to iPad, so it makes perfect sense for the best adventure game from the 90s to be ported to iOS, too.
The stylus actually impeded play on the DS, so putting Picross on a large 10inch screen is a must. A great impulsive play, with plenty of room of downloadable content.
Is iOS lacking puzzle-adventures games? I don't know, and frankly, why does that matter? Professor Layton is a masterful brain-scratcher on DS, and employs the touchscreen exclusively. Again, yet another Nintendo property that stands to do well on other platforms.
Zelda totally works with touch controls, as Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks will have you know, and there really isn't an iOS game in the same stratosphere as Zelda (*cough* Infinity Blade *cough*).
The game required a freaking mouse on SNES, and only because DS hadn't been invented yet. Imagine all the sounds and artistic masterpieces sent over Game Center and YouTube. Also, I could finally beat that fucking giant fly in the swatter-coffee game.
Touch controls, gestures, Retina visuals, multiplayer, Game Center, iTunes integration, the list goes on and on.
Yet another Mario property that would translate perfectly to a touchscreen, because it already did.
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