Apple CEO Steve Jobs wowed the crowd during the company’s World Wide Developer Conference back in June with demos of various iPhone games that were in development for eventual App Store release. One of the more impressive titles was Digital Legends‘ Kroll.
As we reported at the time,
Digital Legends has, in just two weeks’ time, put together an amazing looking 3D fantasy adventure game called Kroll that uses OpenGL and touch controls. The company indicates that the iPhone’s rich control schemes and developer APIs makes for a better gaming experience than that of any other mobile gaming device. Digital Legends’ title will be available by September.
Kroll is a 3D-rendered side-scrolling fighter divided into three chapters, each of which includes three levels plus a boss battle. The game is controlled by touching six icons arrayed about the edges of the iPhone’s screen. Said controls consist of left / right movement, left / right quick attacks, and left / right delivery of slower, more powerful attacks.
Here we are at the end of September and, while Kroll might not hit the App Store by month’s end, its release is imminent. Pocket Gamer recently sat down with Digital Legends’ Xavier Carillo and had the opportunity to talk and play Kroll.
“We wanted to mix cutting-edge graphics with very simple and accessible gameplay," says Carillo Costa. “We were inspired by the ’80s, from arcades, so we’ve basically made a scrolling fighter. You can play one level on the bus, or you can play through if you want a longer experience."
We’re anxious to get our hands on this most promising iPhone fighter. And we can expect more iPhone titles in the future from Digital Legends–Kroll 2 is already in pre-production.
“We have a huge wishlist, so we are already working on pre-production on Kroll 2, gathering the ideas and deciding which of them should be in the game," says Carillo Costa. “We’ve got plenty of crazy ideas, so we’re exploring which of them we can put into it."
Meanwhile, Digital Legends has enjoyed working on the iPhone itself. “It’s a really capable platform," he says. “There’s a lot you can do with it. But what’s important is to adapt gameplay to the platform, rather than just porting an existing game."
Stay tuned for a full review of Kroll when it hits the App Store.
