While the main control on foot is solid (you use a virtual joystick to move around, and the camera is pretty adept at keeping your character on screen even in tight quarters), actually attacking with your fists or a gun is a little more touch-and-go.
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I do wonder why they didn't go with an accelerometer option, but the driving is serviceable as is, and with a little practice, you get better at it.
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The game helps with an "assist" option that will automatically line you up with whatever street you're on (and the cops are easier to escape here than they've ever been, courtesy of a takedown mechanic as you race around), but the top-down view makes it hard to see down the street in front of you, and so the driving here isn't as enjoyable as it is on the full 3D versions of the game. Driving in the game is not quite as solid as on the consoles, and that has to do with the iPhone's core issue of no buttons - while the touchscreen controls do work great and are very responsive, you're still covering up parts of the screen, and you have to do a lot of overcorrecting while driving. Once you've gotten a mission, you head out into the open world city to make your way up through the ranks, picking up stolen cars and taking out whatever targets you're given. The cutscenes in this one are done with animated 2D pictures rather than full 3D and subtitles rather than full voiceover, but the story is smart and witty and strong, as it usually is in Grand Theft Auto games. And this one follows that pattern: you show up in town as Huang Lee, and your first contact is your uncle, who's having a bit of a reputation problem that only you can fix by running errands and doing less-than-legal jobs. If you have played GTA before, the format is familiar to you by now: show up in a new city (in this case, it's a slightly smaller version of GTA4's Liberty City, with an emphasis on the Triad and Chinatown), meet up with a relative who's got a problem, and proceed to solve their problem and take over the town, with lots of car-stealing, ally switching, and gunfire along the way. Indie games are great, but this one's a blockbuster.
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And even if you're not a huge GTA fan (this game does have all the swearing and questionable morality that the bigger versions of the series are known for), just know that this game is a great example of what big-time developers on the iPhone should aim for. If you're a fan of Grand Theft Auto, and, like me, haven't played this latest handheld iteration, you're in for a treat (it's the highest rated game on the DS' Metacritic page, and while I don't agree that it's the best title on that platform, it is an excellent game).
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I'll say this: there has not yet been a game on the App Store that is so worth the $9.99 Rockstar is selling this one for. Now, the release of the game on the iPhone shows that GTA is ready for another segment of its life, and that the iPhone itself is ready for the big market titles to start making a splash. Nowadays, the series has already been through a number of other reboots, and Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS was just another one of those: a return to the game's top-down graphics along with the addition of new elements from the 3D versions and a few touchscreen tricks. It was already huge back during the days of DMA Design, when it was a top-down open world crime game with an attitude, but with the coming of Grand Theft Auto 3 on the console generation, the series turned into a full-fledged classic, with the sales, media attention, and depth to match the fun found in those first games. Grand Theft Auto is, at this point, one of the most storied franchises in video game history.