When I was in Paris, France last month, Blizzard titles weren’t the only games I saw.

I also had the opportunity to stop by Gameloft’s headquarters (see photos here) to check out some new projects they were working on.

In addition to creating games for mobile handsets, the DS, PSP, iPod and WiiWare, the mobile game publisher has been busy working on iPhone games. With the release of the brand-new iPhone 3G tomorrow, consumers can also get a slew of applications available from the new App Store which launched a day early today.

Sitting on Gameloft’s comfy couch in the reception area, I had hands-on time with eight iPhone games in a row, each product manager showing me their title (think Speed Dating but with iPhones). From brand new games to unique spins (literally) on old classics, I played all six of Gameloft’s offerings that are available today, as well as two titles that will be out later this summer.

Read on to see which games you need to get for your shiny new device — from the perspective of someone who was severely jetlagged and has never owned an iPhone.

OUT NOW:

“Brain Challenge” ($9.99)

After being successful on other platforms, Gameloft’s take on brain-training comes to iPhones. The puzzles are divided into the categories of Logic, Math, Visual, Focus and Memory in 43 mini games designed to “exercise” your brain, with detailed stats and graphs to keep track of your progress. After I chose a female personal coach, I did the Daily Test, which gave me five random mini games. I was then bombarded with fairly simple math questions (what’s the square root of 16?), visual and memory-based puzzles (remembering the order of a pattern after it’s flashed on the screen; choosing a shape’s mirrored opposite — much harder than it seems) as well as logic tests (for instance, the game showed me different objects placed on a scale where I have to determine which group weighs more).

There was also stress training which tested my multi-tasking abilities. It asked me several questions, while the screen either violently changed background colors or had other moving objects on-screen (like sheep being chased by a wolf). There’s also an exclusive mini game that’s not on the other platforms: the player must tilt the iPhone in order to group separated cubes placed in various labyrinths. Make a match and they disappear. My exact Daily Test score escapes me (I know I did poorly on the memory section), but I believe it was average; pretty good following a seven-hour flight.

“Bubble Bash!” ($7.99)

“Bubble Bash!” is in the vein of the classic “Puzzle Bobble,” but in a tropical setting. An island boy must match three-of-a-kind colored bubbles in order to clear them (the bubbles are prepped for him by, of course, an island girl). I slid my finger back and forth at the bottom of the screen to aim my bubble, and simply lifted my finger from the screen to release it. I was able to easily get though the first level but the developers assured me that the game gets progressively harder so that players don’t get bored.

And if you’re feeling adventurous, there’s also a game mode where players can tilt the iPhone in order to aim the bubble at their target; the tilting actually moves the cart on which the island boy is standing on. It takes a bit of getting used to, and I’d imagine if you’re standing on a subway train when playing this game, you might want to try that mode when you’re in a stationary position (even though I failed twice in a row while sitting — I blame jet lag). There are 100 levels, 17 different types of bubbles (including explosive ones), as well as pesky obstacles like monkeys, spiders and parrots to burst your bubble (sorry).

“Chess & Backgammon Classic” ($9.99)

With this title, you get two classic games for the price of one; that is, if you know how to play both of them. I had no idea how to play Backgammon, and thankfully, the folks at Gameloft didn’t feel the need to teach me right then and there.

However, they did show me what was cool about their iPhone version. The board for both Chess and Backgammon was rendered in 3D, and one can touch the camera icon to change the perspective and even move the board so that you can see the view from your opponent’s side. Both games also allow you to choose different themes for the board and background colors (such as classic wood, mechanical, glass, tribal — whatever you fancy). In Chess, you can use your finger to move around the pieces and for Backgammon, you can shake the iPhone to throw the dice. And if you are some sort of freak of nature, I was told you can play both games at the same time and switch between them at will.

“Diamond Twister” ($7.99)

At first glance, this is “Bejeweled” — but it’s actually “Bejeweled” with a twist. While the goal is to slide your fingers to match three or more gems (with new ones falling from the top), you can rotate the iPhone from the vertical position to the horizontal one to make the gems fall from a different side. There are eight game modes with 64 levels of difficulty. Oh, and there’s something of a story: the player is a jewel thief who steals gems from eight locales. It also features some character animations and voice-over to carry it along. I didn’t spend too much time with this game because the battery on Gameloft’s demonstration iPhone died at this point. While my hosts scrambled to find a power cord (you can see why that might be difficult), I said it was fine — I think I got the gist of the game.

“Platinum Sudoku” ($7.99)

It’s sudoku, but “platinum” — for Gameloft, that means there are 20 million grids (including both Sudoku and Kakuro). Players can choose from a male or female coach for training, hints and tips, and it also includes mini games based on math and thinking to help enhance your sudoku skills. When it comes to actually playing, you select the cell you want to fill with your finger and input a number in one of two ways (the option is available at the menu displayed on the bottom of the screen). The first: you can choose a number from a small wheel that pops up over the cell. The second way is to simply write out the number. The game had trouble recognizing my scraggly two and five; if you have sloppy handwriting, perhaps you should go with the first option.

Also if the vertical grids don’t float your boat, you can simply turn the phone horizontally and the grid and icons will instantly sync up to your preference. There are also animations, and you can unlock different backgrounds and music as you progress through the game.

“Platinum Solitaire” ($7.99)

This version of Solitaire offers six different games with five alternate versions — Golf, FreeCell, Pyramid, Spider and Yukon — that can be played in six different casino environments; each one has their own dealer and features unique animations. You can use the touch screen to move cards with your finger and also shake your iPhone to sort the cards on the stack. It’s a pretty straightforward game. The product manager sat there watching me as I sorted my cards in a traditional game. There was an awkward silence. (I mean, it is Solitaire after all.)

COMING SOON:

“Asphalt 4″

The best-selling arcade racing franchise will also come to iPhones. There will be six different cities — New York, Beverly Hills, Paris, Dubai, Shanghai and Monte Carlo — as well as 28 licensed vehicles, including Kawasaki motor bikes, and for the first time, the Ferrari and the Bugatti Veyron. The game is entirely in 3D and offers three ways to drive, depending on your preference. One way is to touch the right and left sides of the screen in order to navigate the roads. The second way is to scroll by keeping your finger consistently on the screen and moving it in the direction you’d like to go. And the third way has a persistent half-steering wheel on the screen which you move with your finger. The sounds used for the game were actually captured from real cars burning rubber on a racetrack. “Asphalt 4″ is scheduled to be out at the end of July or in early August.

“Block Breaker Deluxe”

Based on the existing titles on handsets and WiiWare, “BBD” is an “Arkanoid“-style game where the player can slide his/her finger to move the paddle to bounce the ball and keep it in play in order to well… break blocks. While it doesn’t stray too far from the block-breaking formula, I have to say that the bright, near-seizure-inducing graphics the series is known for looked excellent on the device (though my red eyes burned a bit from all the neon).

And like the previous “BBD” titles, it includes various levels, power-ups and bosses to keep things more interesting than mere block-busting. Though I wasn’t able to see it, as the game was still early in the development process, I was told that later levels the bricks will move around by tilting the iPhone, allowing players to strategize a little more. “BBD” is due out at the end of July.

***

Overall, Gameloft’s offering for iPhones is a solid variety of titles taking tried-and-true game types and adding impressive graphics and motion controls to make them stand out from past iterations. Even the menus for the games integrate the device’s Accelerometer. Expect even more iPhone titles from Gameloft later this year.