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. Lots of great games got updates this week, as we often see in the lead-up to the holidays. People are planning to take some time off, after all. Not me, mind you. I may well work until I am dead at the rate I’m going. At least this week it was easy to find a bunch of games to fill my bag with. 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!
Dr. Mario World, Free Dr Mario World is still going, hunh? Well, I suppose it can be our obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update for this week. It looks like there’s a new event in the game called the Power Boost Rally, where you have to clear multiple stages without losing in order to win some items. A new tier has been added in versus mode called Rainbow for the best of the best, and Skill Summit now gives you medals as rewards. A few balance adjustments to the line-up of doctors, a UI tweak or two, and some bug fixes round this one out.
PicoPico - 8bit Retro Games, Free This little subscription service for largely unloved NES games has a few new games in its lineup after this update. The new titles include Namco’s Metro-Cross under the new name of Aerocross, Jaleco’s shooter Formation Z and action platformer JaJaMaru no Daibouken, Data East’s Buggy Popper/Bump ‘n Jump/Burnin’ Rubber, and the genuinely dreadful Hot B RPG Hoshi wo Miru Hito. All of these games are the Japanese versions, which should really only be a problem when it comes to Hoshi wo Miru Hito. But then again, even if you could read it, you still won’t be able to understand it. Apart from the new games, this update adds support for Twitch account integration, support for a second player using a Bluetooth controller, button configuration options, the ability to hide the virtual controls when using a controller, and a few other tweaks. Not a bad little update at all.
Mini Metro, $3.99 Ah, the lovely little Mini Metro has a lovely little update for lovely little us as we put this awful year to rest. There’s a whole new map here based on Chicago. The city, not the musical. Wow, that would be weird if it were the musical though. Anyway, Chi-Town is known for its very own L train, an elevated system that has been around for over 100 years. Its addition to the game brings the total number of cities to a whopping 25. That’s quite a lot compared to when the game launched, and it was already a sweet game then.
Vampire — Night Road, $11.99 This excellent choice-based narrative adventure based on the World of Darkness is a nice title to sink your teeth into if you find some extra time over the holidays. This new update has a number of additions, but you’ll get the most out of it if you’ve bought the Usurpers and Outcasts DLC expansion. Anyway, there are eight new character portraits, an expanded Dove romance, and plenty of bug fixes. There’s also a new power-boost sequence called Memories of Aila for those who have the expansion. Give this one a go if you have any interest in this sort of game at all. It’s very well-written and a great experience overall.
MARVEL Strike Force: Squad RPG, Free This is an odd update as the developers have basically included a lot of stuff they plan to roll out over the next couple of months. It’s mostly tied to Mojo and the latest hot show on Mojoworld: Real-Time Arena. Battle other commanders and see who can drive the best ratings. New characters rolling out include Longshot, Shatterstar, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Yelena, and Red Guardian. Yeah, I bet those last two were meant to tie in with a certain delayed movie. Oh well. There is a new Campaign Chapter in the Doom War series, a limited event focusing on Shatterstar, and a whole lot of UI improvements and balance tweaks. But hey, keep in mind that not all of this is available right now. Coming soon and all that.
CSR 2 - Realistic Drag Racing, Free Oh, that’s clever. CSR Racing 2 has had a name change in the App Store, where it is now known as CSR Racing 2 – #1 Racing Games. But how can one game be the number one games? How can there be a number one games? These questions are irrelevant. This is just a name, after all. This update features the new Elite Tuners, which build on the Elite Customs to give you more options than ever before. There are some new cars including the Toyota GR Supra, new milestone rewards, a new crew and campaign, and some special events to join in on. Mess around with deeper customization options to fully personalize your ride and get it ready to race, and take advantage of additional fusion shots to add more parts. With an update like that, it’s no wonder its name is CSR Racing 2 – #1 Racing Games!
Subway Surfers, Free The kids are on the way to another location, presumably their last trip of the year. Where better to spend the holidays than St. Petersburg? I mean, besides somewhere warm. Make your way through the snow-covered streets, grabbing snowflakes to unlock season-appropriate characters, new boards, and more. Freya and Nicolai have some slick new duds to celebrate the occasion, and the Classic Sleigh board will have you riding in nostalgic style. Those looking to be parted with their money would do well to keep an eye on the shop over the holidays as well, as there are sure to be some sales afoot.
AFK Arena, Free You know, if you look away from AFK Arena for like five minutes, it will have updated. That’s just how busy it is. It stays busy so that it can be the best game for busy you. Or so the marketing line goes, anyway. This new update adds a Hypogean hero named Mortas – The Insidious. Sounds like an unpleasant person. Mortas is available for test play, and an associated Bountiful Trials event is here with them. This version also adds a new Union story named The Final Choice. It will, in fact, not be the final choice in this game. I’m just speculating, but really. Nothing is ever final in games. Except Mother 3 never, ever getting an official localization. That one is final. Also, no Half-Life 3.
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, Free For some people, GWENT was the best part of the Witcher games. I’m sure they’re happy to have this particular game around and healthy. The latest version celebrates the release of the newest expansion, Way of the Witcher. There’s a lot to that, but I’ll leave it to you to investigate the details. Beyond that, there are a bunch of balance adjustments and a new gifting feature. Well, that’s actually pretty nice. The upshot is that there is plenty of good stuff to dig into with this update, so why not give it a look?
Fire Emblem Heroes, Free Fire Emblem Heroes has had some fairly light updates over the last few months, but this latest one certainly makes up for a lot. Book V of the main story has arrived, telling the tale of the dvergar and their advanced machinery. Simply fire up the game and play and you’ll be treated to a 5-star Mythic Hero Reginn to add to your forces. Aether Raids and summoning events have also received some improvements. Nothing else in today’s list is particularly speaking to me, so I suppose I’ll give this the coveted UMMSotW award for the week. I do enjoy playing new story missions in this game.
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. Have a great week!
