The Best iOS Game Updates of 2014 As with all of our Finest of 2014 content material, this list is in no way a total list of all the excellent updates that hit this year, as there's just far too several. This list represents the updates we believed had been specifically important or have been for games that are unique favorites of ours. If you have any game updates that you loved in 2014, definitely inform us about them in the comments beneath. This was certainly a great year for older games that you believed may have been abandoned forever finding unexpected updates and a new lease on life. I'm searching forward to all of the new games we'll be seeing in 2015, but I am also excited to see what type of updates arrive that let old favorites to continue to get improved and reside on into the future. Enviro-Bear 2010, $1.99 - Enviro-Bear 2010 set the planet on fire when it released for iPhone way back in 2009. Regardless of lots of writing it off as merely a joke game, there are surprisingly solid mechanics behind it, and it takes a ton of practice and talent to be productive. I really feel really confident in saying it's by far the most effective bear-driving-a-car or truck simulator ever released, and it's an all-time favored of all of us at TouchArcade. Sadly, poor Enviro-Bear had been neglected for the previous couple of years, but back in February an update hit with full widescreen and iOS assistance, bringing this driving bear game up to modern standards. 1-bit Ninja, $two.99 - Released in 2011, 1-bit Ninja was controversial for not allowing a pretty fundamental expectation of platforming games: moving to the left. Several, like ourselves, found that risky design selection to be the major issue in creating the game a single of the extra exciting and strategic platformers around. Not to mention the incredibly cool potential to switch the viewpoint to 3D at any time, which permitted for tons of hidden secrets and made it entertaining to discover. The only thing seriously missing was widescreen assistance, and this month an update appeared that not only added widescreen but it added native resolution help for the new iPhones and Universal iPad help.
Aralon: Sword and Shadow, $4.99 - One particular of iOS's first open-planet RPGs got a new lease on life with an update that added support for iOS 8, all the new iOS device screen sizes, and even threw in some new graphical effects. The game undoubtedly feels dated by today's requirements, but it was enjoyable to be in a position to revisit the globe of Aralon, and it still feels magical possessing such an expansive small globe tucked away in my pocket.
Crossword Dungeon, $2.99 - Originally released in 2012, Crossword Dungeon was a dungeon crawler where the dungeon was truly a crossword puzzle. It was an extremely unique notion that blended two genres with each other truly effectively, but its initial version didn't feel totally fleshed out. This year a important update hit that addressed lots of of the problems with the release version and expanded on the idea in a lot of exciting methods. There is nevertheless additional that can be carried out, but the most recent version of Crossword Dungeon finally realized a great deal of the potential the original release had. Slayin, $.99 - One of the earliest wonderful updates of 2014 was the version two. update for Slayin, which came out in January. Slayin is 1 of my all-time favored games, and this update added three brand new playable characters. As everyone familiar with Slayin knows, every of the original 3 playable characters played pretty differently from one another, and each gave the game a one of a kind feel. The exact same was true of the new characters, and with a total of six playable characters there was a ton of variety to be discovered in Slayin.
Game Dev Story, $.99 - Practically everyone knows Game Dev Story. Originally released as a Japanese Computer game in the late '90s, the game was ported to iPhone in 2010 and fit like a glove. It's a simulation game that enables you to generate your personal game organization and develop your personal games in the hopes of becoming the largest game dev studio in the world. The game is bursting with charm and strong simulation gameplay. Being a port of such an old game, Game Dev Story has always had some quirks on the iPhone, but in the past couple years it seriously started to really feel outdated. Fortunately this year brought a new update with greater support for existing screen resolutions and some beautiful border art to fill in the gaps left by the odd original screen ratio. It nonetheless has some quirks but it feels much additional contemporary now. Plus this game was by no means about the graphics anyway, and the gameplay remains as powerful as ever. Lunar Silver Star Story Touch, $six.99 - This early '90s JRPG has received several ports and rereleases on a wide variety of platforms more than the previous two decades, and in the summer time of 2012 it arrived on iOS in the type of Lunar Silver Star Story Touch. It was a great port, but it did have its share of challenges, and a enormous update to the game has been in the operates ever given that. This year that update ultimately hit and it added drastically enhanced visuals, accurate widescreen support, and Game Center, generating it a lot less difficult for a complete new generation of mobile gamers and extended-time fans alike to experience Lunar Silver Star Story.
Miss Claire Garden, $.99 - One particular of 2011's finest and most underrated platformers Miss Claire's Garden received a Enormous update in early 2014. It featured fully remastered HD visuals, Universal iPad help, Game Center achievements, assistance for MFi controllers, widescreen help, a set of brand new levels and many additional new functions. If you loved that mechanic in the American version of Super Mario Bros. two exactly where you could pick up items and enemies and toss them around, then I can just about guarantee you are going to enjoy Miss Claire's Garden, as it really is a total homage to that. Nonetheless, it is also a completely original and charming platformer in its personal suitable, and hopefully the updated version garners it the type of exposure it deserves.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $2.99 - GTA: Chinatown Wars is an often overlooked GTA game, but it can effortlessly hang with its console and Computer older brothers. At the time of its original release in 2009, it even introduced a bunch of novel suggestions to the GTA formula that are still utilised now. Becoming a game produced for yet another touchscreen device, the Nintendo DS, it transitioned nicely to the iOS platform in 2010. Nonetheless, like other games on this list it had been neglected for several years and in this case it was even fully broken on iOS eight. Fortunately Rockstar allocated some resources to the little GTA that could and with a significant update just a couple of weeks ago Chinatown Wars on iOS is now improved than it's ever been with complete Retina resolution assistance, Universal iPad help, MFi controller support and proper assistance for all iOS screen sizes.
True Skate, $1.99 - Correct Skate released back in October of 2012, and absolutely received some nice updates during 2013. But it was in 2014 when developer True Axis really cranked it up to 11. Along with a steady stream of new original parks and tons of added functions, 1 of the most considerable issues to come about to True Skate in 2014 was when it partnered up with Street League Skateboarding to develop into the official mobile game of the popular annual street skating competition. This incorporated a slew of new parks that have been recreations of SLS parks from last year and this year. I have a feeling the globe of True Skate will continue to expand and enhance throughout 2015. There are a lot of terrific items about living in the totally digital globe of the App Store. For 1, you can magically beam new games and apps appropriate out of thin air and onto your device devoid of possessing to get off your lazy butt and drive to some shop. Even so, even though becoming lazy is wonderful, an even larger bonus to the App Retailer is the ability for developers to supply content and bug repair updates for months and even years right after a game is initially released. Back in the day if you purchased a game for your console that had a critical bug in it, you have been fairly a great deal stuck with it, and new content usually meant waiting for a sequel. That is not how we roll anymore. With that, here's a appear at some of the most effective updates we saw this year.
Secret of Mana, $three.99 - One particular of the 16-bit era's most revered RPGs, Secret of Mana, arrived on the App Store in late 2010, and was a perfect fit for a mobile device like the iPhone. It was a quite superior port at the time, but however it hadn't received significantly really like given that and felt decidedly lacking in certain areas. That was until this year when in July Square Enix released a substantial update which added widescreen support by way of colorful border art, MFi controller assistance, improved visuals and greatly enhanced virtual controls. With the iOS version finally feeling up to date, this legendary RPG can continue to live on. Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum, $1.99 - Wolfenstein 3D was a single of the 1st successful 1stparticular person shooters on the App Store when it launched way, way back in March of 2009. A lot of that was simply due to it becoming an all about superb game, but the lack of up/down movement when aiming also translated extremely nicely to virtual touchscreen controls. id Software added a lot of content material to Wolfenstein 3D over the years, like the Spear of Destiny expansion levels, Universal iPad assistance and Retina Show graphics. 1 issue it was sorely missing for some time even though was widescreen assistance, so when iOS 8 broke the game id took the time to repair it
up and returned it to the App Shop full with glorious widescreen. Significant Action Mega Fight!, $.99 - Huge Action Mega Fight! is a fairly killer homage to oldcollege beat'em ups that launched in November of final year, and in an effort to cast as wide a net of players as attainable, it was created as a no cost to play game. Power timers, in-game currencies... the complete bit. The problem was that model just didn't match this style of game. So this past June the developers said screw it and removed all IAP from the game, rebalancing every thing and giving it a one particular-time up-front price, and not only was it a better encounter for players but it earned much more in a week as a paid game than half a year as a cost-free to play one. Reckless Racing, $.99 (iPad Version - $.99) - We have three distinctive games in the Reckless Racing series these days, and I appreciate all three in distinctive approaches. As a great deal as the game was expanded on in the second and third entries, there's anything about the original that will often hold a particular spot in my heart. Sadly the original Reckless Racing languished for years with out any sort of update, but alongside developer Pixelbite taking the game back from EA and republishing it below their personal name, they released a new update earlier this month that brought support for iOS eight and the many iOS device screen sizes that are out there now. It was an absolute treat to be in a position to revisit this App Store classic once once again. Canabalt, $2.99 - The granddaddy of endless runners on iOS had been feeling fairly neglected for the past couple of years, but that changed in 2014. In June Canabalt at extended final received and update with widescreen assistance along with some new playable characters and new music. In July a big update hit that added several new game modes that toyed about with the basic mechanics of the game. Then just this month an update hit which added native resolution help for the new iPhone models, making sure Canabalt will have a spot forever on my device. 10000000, $2.99 - A extended-time preferred about TouchArcade, Luca Redwood's 10000000 received an awesome update in February of this year. This RPG-ish match-three was one of the greatest gaming experiences about in 2012, but the trouble was as soon as you beat the game there really wasn't a lot of explanation to continue playing, which is type of strange for a matching game like this. February's update addressed this in a good way, primarily letting you restart with a "new game+" when you have beaten it. Each time you beat 10000000 now will level up your Ace rating, which will somehow translate to Redwood's upcoming game You Must Create A Boat. Even without having that, it really is fantastic to have a reason to continue playing 10000000 forever, and that very same update also added a bunch of Game Center achievements and complete 4-inch screen support.
Minecraft - Pocket Edition, $6.99 - Minecraft has been on iOS for years now, and has received a continual stream of updates adding new bits to the game here and there. But it was this year that two major updates landed that finally made this portable version feel a lot more along the lines of its Computer counterpart. An update in July added infinite planet and caves (finally!), along with plenty of new block forms and a ton more new characteristics. This update alone produced the Pocket Edition feel the most Minecraft-y yet. In November version .10 was released, and although much more minor, it gave the game a welcome facelift and once again added in many new features. Who knows? Maybe in 2015 we'll lastly attain version 1. with Minecraft - Pocket Edition.
Terraria, $four.99 - It was a massive deal when the hit craft 'em up action adventure Terraria landed on iOS final year. Nevertheless, the iOS version was a quite vanilla expertise, and it was a bit lacking when compared to its Pc counterpart, which about that very same time had received a huge content material update. It took some time, but in early December the version 1.2 update hit Terraria on iOS, bringing it extremely close to matching the quantity of content in the Pc version. Do not get me incorrect, the original release of Terraria on iOS was fantastic, but this massive update added so considerably new stuff it feels like a whole new game now. With the Computer version set to get a different huge update soon, the mobile version might once more be playing catch-up, but I am a patient man and I welcome any and all future updates to Terraria on iOS.
Boson X, $two.99 - The really like kid of Temple Run and Super Hexagon got two hefty updates in 2014. Back in June Boson X received an update with 6 brand new levels. Seeing as the original game contained 6 levels itself, this properly doubled the content of the game for absolutely free. Sweet! But they weren't performed but, as just this month yet another update with a batch of six new levels along with a new playable character pushed this currently remarkable game way more than the best.
Oceanhorn (TM), $four.99 - One of the biggest games of 2013 continued to get a ton of really like throughout 2014. The gorgeous Zelda-inspired adventure Oceanhorn seemed like it was frequently acquiring updated to take benefit of new hardware or computer software capabilities, but it was the massive Game of the Year Edition update in August that felt the most important of the bunch. It
added 4 more hours of gameplay which incorporated a brand new region known as the Island of Whispers. The update also included a new fishing mini-game comprehensive with Game Center leaderboard help, simply because you know, every single action adventure game requires a fishing mini-game. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light(TM), $4.99 - Originally released on consoles and Pc in mid2010, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a superb dual-stick shooter set in the Tomb Raider universe. Shortly soon after its debut it made its way to iOS and felt excellent on the touchscreen platform. It hadn't noticed any updates in the past couple of years, but with the release of a new sequel on Computer and present-gen consoles this month Guardian of Light on iOS received a considerably-necessary refresh with help for iOS 8, all the newest screen sizes and resolutions, and Universal iPad compatibility. The update breathed new life into a single of the greater games on iOS, but I'm still holding out hope that the sequel tends to make its way to mobile in the future.
Injustice: Gods Amongst Us, Cost-free - My most significant guilty pleasure of 2013 got some major
enjoy by means of updates in 2014. DC and Warner Bros' fighting game/card collector hybrid Injustice: Gods Among Us has received typical updates ever due to the fact its original release, but it was in celebration of its initial anniversary that a huge version 2. update was launched adding an online multiplayer component, a welcome UI overhaul, new characters and a new gear method that drastically expanded the upgradeability of the fighters in the game. Injustice just keeps on bringing it as well with common new challenges, promotions and more. I have a feeling 2015 will be yet another huge year for this well known game.