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. It’s a hot one this week, friends. Lots of great games got updates, some of them regulars, others appearing in this feature for the first time. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper Social (Free), the watchlist in the TouchArcade App (Free), or by participating in the TouchArcade forums, but this weekly summary is here to fill in the things you might have missed. Let’s dig in!
MARVEL Avengers Academy, Free A new Marvel movie is upon us, and that means a whole bunch of tie-ins with the games. If you don’t pay attention to such things, the movie in question is Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. Now, the Guardians are no strangers to Avengers Academy. The game’s first real event was Guardians-themed, after all. Groot Bobblehead, am I right? Since long-time players have had a chance to get the whole team already, this event is going to be leaning on the new characters and characters drawn from the comics. But new players need the main team, so this first week is kind of a fun little catch-up event for people to fill out the core line-up.
Siralim 2 (Monster Taming RPG), $4.99 Well, here it is: the final content update for Siralim 2. The first game also got an update in the last week, so make sure to check that out, too. As for this one, it includes a cool New Game Plus mode with lots of interesting options to play with. It also adds Daily Realms to the game, and 40 new skins drawn from the original version of Siralim. From here on out, it’s just going to be the odd maintenance update and bug fixes for Siralim, but it certainly had a good run. I look forward to the next Thylacine game, sure to feature in these articles.
Phoenix 2, Free Phoenix 2 is on the march to its first anniversary, and it’s apparently going to be getting monthly updates leading up to that momentous occasion. This update includes Phoenix Revives, a new item that will allow you to continue once per use. You can earn them in-game or buy them in-shop. Or just don’t die. You can do that, can’t you? I have faith in you. But if my faith is misplaced, well, Phoenix Revives are there for you. The bad guys have some new weapons, and the mission generator has gotten some tweaks as well. Other than that, it’s a grab-bag of visual tweaks and bug fixes.
Typeshift, Free TypeShift is built to be expanded on, and here’s a new expansion! A new extra-tough clue puzzle pack is available for purchase for those who enjoy the crosswords-style variation of the game. Those who enjoy the standard puzzles will be happy to see some new packs, both free and paid. This update also reduces the frequency at which ads appear, and fixes up some bugs and typographical errors.
Super Mario Run, Free I can think of all kinds of great ways this game could be expanded on, but Nintendo seems to think doubling down on the Toad grinding is the way to go. As such, the maximum Toad cap has been raised to 99,999, and a bunch of new buildings have been added that require you to collect more and more Toads. This update also improves the player icon display, allowing you to show off your Miitomo fashions. Game Center achievements have been added, and you can now find your friends from you Nintendo Account. It’s…it’s Mario time?
Jack N' Jill, Free Jack N’ Jill is cute. Not much more I can say about it than that. Very cute. This update adds a Mirror Mode, letting you play the stages flipped. It also adds the ability to play as Jill, so now the title is super-accurate. It also fixes the restart bugs that were plaguing a bunch of levels. So hey, mirror the levels, play as Jill, and as far as your eyes and muscle memory know, you’re doing a whole new game. Pretty sweet for a free update, if you ask me.
Fieldrunners, $2.99 With the 32-bit Appocalypse seeming like a dead certainty at this point, a lot of older games are going to have to update or get off the pot, so to speak. While I don’t blame any developer who chooses to sunset a years-old game at this point, I’m always happy to see any game take the necessary steps to stick around for a bit longer. Fieldrunners hasn’t had an update in ages, but it’s all ready to go once more. Not just with 64-bit support, but also support for larger screen sizes, improved framerates and loading times, UI improvements, some added touches to the presentation, and a whole bevy of bug fixes that were likely piling up over the years. Well done, Subatomic!
The Sandbox Evolution, Free From Shrek to the speedway, Sandbox Evolution refuses to rest. This update adds some vehicles to the game. There are six new ones in total, including a tank, a battlemech, an attack helicopter, a submarine, some sort of weird contraption called the Reaptire, and a hazard bathysphere. See what kind of fun adventures you can come up with using those! Possibly involving Shrek? I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but if you miss the chance to put Shrek in a bathysphere, I’m probably not going to ever forgive you.
MARVEL Future Fight, Free Yes, it’s the Guardians here, too. Also in Contest of Champions, but I’m not giving Marvel three precious spots in this round-up. So, Future Fight. There are new uniforms to collect for Gamora, Peter Quill, and Rocket. Unrelated to the Guardians movie, Sharon Rogers has a new costume. Some new characters are available, too. Mantis is in the new film, Agent Venom is not in the film but somehow ended up on the Guardians team in the comics, and Whiplash… Whiplash doesn’t really have much to do with anything. Please note this is Iron Man 2 Whiplash, not comic book Whiplash. Yes, there was a second Iron Man movie. I thought they skipped right to part 3 too, but there you go. Next thing you know someone will tell me there’s a Thor 2. Ha!
Vainglory, Free Hey, it’s new hero time for Vainglory. This time, our new character is Baptiste. He’s probably into death metal and dark poetry. Anyway, he uses fear as a weapon, scaring enemies into submission and making them flee from sheer terror. Anyone silly enough to stick around will get their souls reaped and turned into delicious cheeseburgers for Baptiste. This update also includes some new skins, adjusts a few points of the UI, and adds a couple of new settings.
Dungeon Rushers, $4.99 I liked Dungeon Rushers a little. I didn’t like it a lot, but I definitely liked it a little. So I think it’s pretty cool that there is an update adding some new stuff. The new stuff in question includes a never-ending tower (aww-aww-awwww, aww-aww-awwww, awww-awww-awwww) and 10 new skins to snatch up for your characters. That’s all, but hey, if you’re only going to have a two line update, it doesn’t hurt to have one of those lines include an endless mode.
Minion Rush: Running game, Free I don’t know about you all, friends, but I’m kind of feeling like the whole 1980s nostalgia thing is played out. That Despicable Me is wholly embracing it for its new film only makes me more certain of that feeling. Oh well, it is what it is. Hey everyone! Neon colors! Random geometric shapes that kind of remind you of your old Trapper Keeper! Blue and pink, but mostly pink! Cassette tapes! Ha ha, what even ARE those things, am I right? Okay whatever, collect the tapes, grab some sneakers, and pick up HILARIOUSLY big cell phones. Try to get yourself that snazzy Stereo Costume so that you can see a Minion wearing 1980s regalia and carrying a boom-box. That… that might be the worst thing I’ve ever written about, friends. I need a special award for this. For this update, Minion Rush earns the Best iPhone Game Updates Amazing Spider-Man Sins Past of the Forever award. Ugh, where’s the eye bleach?
Temple Run 2, Free Temple Run 2 just got a really huge update not that long ago, so you probably shouldn’t expect a whole ton of new content this quickly. But you do get a couple of new runners to try out, along with a new artifact set that sees you collecting Lost Jungle Manuscripts. Have you tried asking the waiters at the Lost Jungle Denny’s? Just a thought. There are also some new Global Challenges you can join in on to try and score some prizes. No bigs.
Jack B. Nimble, $1.99 When Jack B. Nimble shows up for a party, he shows up in style, my friends. We’ve been waiting a while for this update, but it’s packed with so much stuff that it’s hard to even muster a mild moan. Here’s all the new stuff: achievements, six characters, three levels, three music tracks, seven color schemes, various updated screens, a new app icon, an in-game manual, some other UI tweaks, and even a secret or two to sniff out. Here’s how much the developer is charging for all of that: $0.00. What? Yep, this giant bag of goodies is a free update. This is a slam dunk for the UMMSMotW award this time around.
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!
