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. We’ve got so much Marvel to deal with this time, friends. Now that the movie gears are turning again, the collaborations are back to being right on schedule. But worry not, we’ve got plenty of other cool updates to check out along with those. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself 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!
FINAL FANTASY VI, $17.99 Every time one of these Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games updates, I fire it up to see if they silently fixed my biggest problem with them: the horrible font. I’m sorry to say, this isn’t the one either. This new version does have a ton of fixes and a few changes, though. A few balance adjustments, a few changes to things that weren’t working consistently with the older releases of the game, and a big list of bug fixes including some very critical ones. I want to think that after they’re done fixing all of the little issues, they’ll get around to that font. Yes, any day now.
Mario Kart Tour, Free It’s rare for Mario Kart Tour to get any significant changes beyond the bi-weekly new Tours and racers. This latest update has a little more gas in the tank, though. It adds a new bonus challenge in the form of the Big Reverse Race vs 100, which sees you trying to claw your way to the top against a hundred opponents. Cool. You’re now able to use those useless Quick Tickets to update the Daily Selects shop once per day, and you can now hide completed challenge cards so they’re not cluttering up your UI. Good stuff.
Gardenscapes, Free Here’s the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update for this time around. Austin and his cousin Rachel are headed to Tortuga, and they’ve got trouble in mind. Uncle Mycroft has gone missing, and they mean to bring him back by any means necessary. Any. Means. Also in this update: Someone becomes a radio host! The identity of Ryan Jones is revealed! Some colorful pieces will be matched! Summer heat meets really neat in this stunning episode of Gardenscapes! Wow, I made the game sound really cool there. It’s still just Gardenscapes, sorry.
The Oregon Trail, Feel like introducing a little of The Oregon Trail to the real world without risking that pesky dysentery? You might be interested in the latest update to the Apple Arcade version of the game. Turn your real steps into progress on a virtual journey, with convenient back-up from the Apple Health app. Make your way through sixty-four locations, one walk or run at a time. You can even use your Apple Watch if you’re the sort that leaves your phone at home. You might be able to make it to Oregon in a year if you can manage 10,000 steps a day. This is an exceptionally cool update that I have no qualms about awarding the coveted UMMSotW to this week.
Zookeeper World, Not to be outdone by other matching puzzle games, Zookeeper World has some new goodies for you to enjoy in its latest update. The Summer Resort 2022 event is on, and you can get a bunch of spicy rewards by completing its puzzle stages. In case you’re tired of the puzzle stages and need a break, there’s yet another new minigame on tap. Rabbit Rope Apple Hunt sees you hopping over obstacles to collect apples. There’s getting to be quite the variety of side activities in this game.
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Ready for an extra challenge in Gibbon: Beyond the Trees? You might want to check out the new Daily Run mode, which offers up a new procedurally-generated stage every day. All players will have the same level, so you can compete with one another to see who is the Pope of the Ropes. That… that isn’t in the game at all, I just made that title up. There are some new logging levels in Liberation, some new backgrounds in the Story mode to more vividly express the destruction of the gibbons’ habitat, and some other improvements and fixes. The game should be running better now with fewer issues, so give it another shot if you bounced off it initially for tech reasons.
Honkai Impact 3rd, Free Genshin Impact‘s older sister got a substantial update in the last week. The biggest thing this time around is the new Starry Impression SP battlesuit. It can enhance allies with its Ultimate skill and deal some serious damage to bleeding enemies. Luna Kindred’s new Before the Dawn outfit it up for grabs as well in the Journey of Painting Stars, and the thirtieth chapter of the story is incoming. There’s lots of other stuff to discover, so fire it up and have a look for yourself if you want all the details.
Marvel Contest of Champions, Free I hope you like Marvel, because it’s all Marvel from here on out. New movie and all, you understand. And yes, this update is very much tied in with Thor: Love and Thunder. Gorr the God Butcher has taken control of an array of Champions and has them mining Star Ore in order to power his Godbomb. Defeat the Champions, earn some Star Ore, and trade it at the Valkyrie Store for some useful goods. There’s also the Subservience event, featuring some of the Thor: Love and Thunder characters. As part of that, Thor (Jane Foster) has received an update. There are a few other things, but there’s only so much internet ink to go around. Next!
MARVEL Future Revolution, Free The Thor: Love and Thunder love-in continues in Marvel Future Revolution. There’s a new companion here in the form of the Mighty Thor, a new Epic Invasion featuring the God Butcher, a reworking of the Dark Zone, and a number of other improvements and enhancements. I don’t have anything else to put in here, so I guess this is as good a place as any to express my surprise at the movie not being as good as I expected it to be. Well, I’m sure it will make buckets of cash anyway. I just hope things start turning around a bit, as it feels like the best movie in the recent run is the one that barely touches the MCU at all.
MARVEL Future Fight, Free With that unpleasant situation addressed, let’s check out our last Marvel Thor: Love and Thunder update for the week. Future Fight has been running a long time, and I continue to be impressed with how much cool stuff it has added over time. This update gives us a new Legendary Battle featuring Gorr, some new movie-related uniforms for Thor, Thor (Jane Foster), and Valkyrie, plus a Tier-4 for Thor and Tier-3 for Thor (Jane Foster), plus Potential Transcended for Angela, Skurge, and Destroyer. Probably the best of this trio of updates with regards to tying into the movie.
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!