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Best iPhone Game Updates: ‘Mario Kart Tour’, ‘Avernum 2’, ‘Sonic Forces’, ‘Toon Blast’, and More

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Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Items needed for a wedding, but also an apt description of the contents of this week’s article. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!

Mario Kart Tour, Free By nature of its design, there’s always something new going on in Mario Kart Tour. This week, however, there are two things happening. First is the latest tour, the Cooking Tour, where you can unlock Mario (Chef), the Choco Macharon kart, and the Chocolate Donut glider. Not sure about the aerodynamics of that last one, but okay. There’s also a special 50-item Gold Pipe available right now, offering up Gold Dry Bowser and a second crack at Gold Dry Bones and Gold Koopa. Of course, you’ll either need a lot of luck or plenty of gems to get all those goodies. Well, have fun.

Fire Emblem Heroes, Free It’s a Nintendo double-header this week. Fire Emblem Heroes got its monthly update, and this one is a bit bigger than the last. The second half of Book IV’s main story has been added, allowing you to see what will happen to the heroes in the dark realm of Dokkalfheimr. That name just rolls off the tongue. In addition to that new story content, new weapon skills for Draug, Clarisse, and best boy Donnel have been added to the game. Power up Donnel, crush enemies, repeat.

Avernum 2: Crystal Souls HD, $9.99 Okay, this one isn’t an iPhone game update. That’s how it goes, friends. Sometimes adults lie to you. But if you’ll allow me this iPad-exclusive entry, I’ll be most appreciative. Spiderweb Software makes some really great RPGs, but some of them are getting extremely long in the tooth by this point. Well, the good fellow behind Spiderweb has put in tons of work and updated pretty much the entire line with iOS 13 support and compatibility with all iPad sizes. He’s also fixed a number of bugs and typos in the process. I picked Avernum 2 because its icon is pretty, but all of the older games got the same treatment in the last week.

Marvel Contest of Champions, Free The latest batch of events have hit Marvel Contest of Champions, giving you more quests to chew on. Like Samurai’s Journey, which sees Tigra and Hit-Monkey joining forces to escape from a cell and figure out who imprisoned them in the first place. I’m guessing it was probably Animal Control. There’s also The Island of Doctor M.O.D.O.K., which is automatically awesome as it involves M.O.D.O.K.. Earn some special Gold Coins you can spend at the Hotel M.O.D.O.K. Store! Other new additions include the Buff Deleter, which does exactly what you’d think it would do, and some changes to the Alliance Treasury. Toss in a healthy dose of bug fixes, balance adjustments, and performance improvements and that’s the update.

Sonic Forces PvP Racing Battle, Free The latest and seemingly last of the current crop of behind-the-back Sonic running games, Sonic Forces appears to have a bit more longevity than the ill-fated console game it draws its name from. The newest event offers up Tikal as a new playable character, provided you earn enough shards. There are also three new items: Captive Light, Chao Chase, and Chao Guardians. Yes, they’re for Tikal. You know, you don’t see Tikal or any other non-Knuckles Echidnas around too much anymore in the Sonic games. Yes, I know why. Let’s not talk about it. Instead, let’s all just enjoy seeing Tikal here.

Toon Blast, Free Time once again for the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update. This week, it’s Toon Blast. If you’re a regular reader of these articles, you probably don’t need me to say much more than this. You know it’s a batch of fifty new levels. You know there is some story connected to the new levels that only appears in the update notes. The only thing you don’t know is what that story involves. I shall now reveal the mystery: superheroes. Weird to talk about the characters being in costumes when we’ll never see them, but I guess that’s how it goes with these games.

ANOTHER EDEN, Free You can tell when I’m struggling to find new faces for the articles, because I always fall back on a couple of games that update every single week. Like this one, for example. Another Eden has some new content in the form of a new encounter with Felmina (Another Style), and a new Fateful Encounter. Apart from that, this new version is mostly about fixing some bugs that were reported by the community and adjusting some writing mistakes. I don’t even have a good joke prepared this time. Or a bad one. Sorry.

Disney Magic Kingdoms, Free Who puts the ‘glad’ in ‘gladiator’? HERCULES! Whose daring deeds make great theater? HERCULES! I don’t know that Disney’s Hercules will ever be thought of as one of Disney’s best stories, but it’s genuine good fun that I never mind watching. Ol’ Wonderboy Herc joins Disney Magic Kingdoms in this update, bringing Pegasus, Megara, Phil, and more characters from the film with him. The nefarious Hades has a plan. No, it’s not making a Twitter account and retweeting crackpot conspiracy theories all day long. Rather, he means to drag Hercules down to the Underworld. Do your best to help out the heroes and foil that fool! I’ll give this the coveted UMMSotW award for this week just because I like the movie.

Star Traders: Frontiers, $6.99 Another regular at the end of the bar that is the Monday updates articles, Star Traders: Frontiers is a game that just keeps on giving. The hard-working developers have a handful of new goodies in this latest version, including a new ship named the Lockwood Defender, three new Blockade cards, some new components, and more. On top of that, the Star Atlas can now be searched for Rare Trade Goods, making it that much easier to find the things you’re looking for and in turn make greater profits. Yes, very nice.

Into the Dead 2, Free We’ll finish things up by heading straight Into the Dead. 2. Because it’s the sequel, you see. Lots of goodies in this new version of the game, including but not limited to a Side Stories mode that provides you with a fresh story every week, the ARC-4 Guerrilla and Alpha & Omega weapons, and direct purchases for some weapon parts and companion treats. Get equipped with those new guns and head into the side stories!

That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks.

  • Disney Magic Kingdoms

    Create the Disney Park of your dreams, filled with beloved Disney, Pixar and Star Warsâ„¢ characters, exciting attractio…
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Marvel Contest of Champions

    Prepare for epic versus-fighting action with your favorite Marvel Super Heroes & Super Villains in the ultimate cosmic s…
    TA Rating:
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Avernum 2: Crystal Souls HD

    Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is an epic, indie, fantasy role-playing adventure in a unique, massive world. The subterranean …
    TA Rating:
    $9.99
    Buy Now
  • Into the Dead 2

    Journey through the zombie apocalypse in a race to save your family. Arm yourself with an arsenal of powerful weapons an…
    Free
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  • Toon Blast

    Welcome to “Toon Blast,” a free match-3 adventure that combines fun and strategy. Join Bruno Bear, Cooper Cat, and W…
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Fire Emblem Heroes

    Nintendo's hit strategy-RPG Fire Emblem series, which has been going strong for more than 30 years, continues its journe…
    TA Rating:
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Sonic Forces PvP Racing Battle

    World-famous SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is back! RUN and COMPETE with real players from around the world. Find out who is the MA…
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Mario Kart Tour

    â– Challenge players worldwide in multiplayer! You can race against up to seven other players, whether they're registere…
    Free
    Buy Now
  • ANOTHER EDEN

    Embark on a journey beyond time and space. To save our lost future. Before the darkness of time falls upon us all... Sc…
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Star Traders: Frontiers

    You are the captain of a starship venturing through a massive open universe. Customize your crew and take command at the…
    $6.99
    Buy Now