After the deluge of new releases over the last couple of weeks, there has been an almost equal amount of updates to current games recently. While it’s exciting to dive into brand new game experiences, it can be just as fun to receive an update for an already released game that adds functionality and breathes new life into the gameplay. Here is a quick summary of some of the more significant updates that have hit in the past several days or so.
Max Adventure, Free It was just last week that we reviewed Max Adventure, the newest game from Imangi Studios, and already the game has received its first content update. Max Adventure is a dual-stick shooter that follows the story of a small boy who must defend the planet from an alien invasion. Despite the exorbitant amount of dual-stick shooters on the App Store, Max Adventure manages to stand out with its cute presentation and varied gameplay across a lengthy campaign and survival mode.
With this latest update there is now a brand new survival map to play on, as well as some gameplay tweaks and bug fixes. In addition, you can now take advantage of the video out feature of your iPad or 4th generation iPhone/iPod touch and play Max Adventure on the big screen using your device as a controller. We already liked Max Adventure quite a bit when it came out last Tuesday, and it’s nice to see the game get an update so quickly. We’ll be looking forward to what other treats are in store for Max Adventure in the future, and you can pick up the game while it’s still on sale for 99¢.
Beast Boxing 3D - Monster Fighting Action!, $2.99 Last month we reviewed Beast Boxing 3D, an arcade-style boxing game with gorgeous 3D graphics and the soul of Punch-Out! at the core of its gameplay. One area where Beast Boxing 3D was lacking though was in the replay value department, as once you made your way through the roster of fighters in the campaign there wasn’t a whole lot of reason to go back and keep playing. Developer Goodhustle Studios has addressed this with a new 1.2 update that adds an endless survival mode.
You could always go back and rematch opponents you had defeated in the campaign before, but the endless mode actually gives you a purpose to do so which makes it much more fun. In addition, the responsiveness of the controls and the ability to pull off combos has been tightened up, as well as a number of other performance optimizations. Finally, two new characters have been added to rematch mode – a Santa character and a (somewhat late) Pilgrim character. If you finished Beast Boxing 3D previously and need a reason to go back, check out the endless mode in the latest update. Also there is a lite version to try and the full version is currently on sale for $1.99.
CAPCOM ARCADE, Free Capcom Arcade is a games portal that lets you play a selection of classic arcade games from developer Capcom. The game was released early last month, and we generally enjoyed it in our review, although it did have a few problems. The most glaring for me personally was that while Capcom Arcade was a free to download ad-supported game, there was no way to get rid of the ads if you ended up purchasing content in the game. The other issues stemmed from a general lack of polish in regards to the performance and controls of the arcade titles.
The latest update for Capcom Arcade addresses all of these problems, and at the same time adds a new arcade machine, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, to the collection. First off, buying any of the arcade cabinets, buying any 3 special items (read: in-game cheats), or having at least one token in your possession will disable the ads in the game. Next, the scrolling shooter 1942, which had the most significant performance problems, has been improved greatly, and I’m happy to say it now runs without a hitch. The controls have also been tweaked in a number of the games, making them easier to play. Finally, a Bluetooth multiplayer mode has been added to both of the Street Fighter II games, which is a welcome addition. As an added bonus the price to buy an arcade game has dropped to $1.99 each for a limited time, so if you had some issues with Capcom Arcade before it’s worth checking out this new update and picking up some games while they’re on sale.
ChuChu Rocket!, $0.99 Late last October, Sega released their iOS port of ChuChu Rocket! which we thoroughly enjoyed in our review. Less than a month later, a significant update was issued for the game that added 100 new levels to play through as well as a number of gameplay improvements and fixes. Now ChuChu Rocket! has received possibly its most exciting update yet in the form of online multiplayer for 2-4 players over Game Center in both the iPhone and iPad versions of the game.
Seeing as how the original Dreamcast release of ChuChu Rocket! was fondly remembered for being one of the first online multiplayer games on home gaming consoles, it was definitely a disappointment that the iOS version didn’t initially ship with this functionality. It’s in there now though thanks to this latest update, and better late than never. The online mode lets you join or host a match with random players or invite friends from your Game Center friends list. Also part of this update is a Retina Display update for capable devices and general optimizations and fixes. If you are lacking in nearby buddies to engage in the insanely fun multiplayer mode in ChuChu Rocket!, now you can get your fix by jumping online for some battles.
