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 pretty interesting one this time around, friends. Some big paid games got serious updates. A nice handful of Apple Arcade games have new bits to mess about with. The free-to-play stuff marches on as usual. A nice little mix of updates to dig into as you kick off your week. 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!
Horizon Chase, Free
Horizon Chase has some new DLC available titled Golden Japan, celebrating the very Golden Week that I find myself working in right now. But enough about my poor work-life balance, let’s look at what you get in this new pack. First up, a new car. A very familiar car. Yes. there are a few unlockable skins for that car, too. The big deal is, of course, nine new races set in various locations in Japan. All that for a mere $0.99. Worth every penny if you like this game as much as I do.
Toy Blast, Free
Let’s get the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update out of the way early on. I don’t have anything clever to say about this one. You get fifty new levels to play, with some sort of cowboy theme tying it all together. Cowboy Rhino, Barkeeper Mister, that kind of thing. Saloons and barroom brawls and so on. I’m sure things will go up from here.
Jetpack Joyride, Free
The Toitles are back in Jetpack Joyride with the latest event. Play it and you’ll have a chance to collect new characters like Leonardo, Michelangelo, and April. Regardless of how you perform, you’ll get the Pizza Jetpack free. You’ll also have the chance to ride a Mouser, which you would think would be a bit dangerous. Not like Barry cares about such things. You can also get Raphael and Donatello costumes, the Mutagen Jetpack, a Sewer Surfboard vehicle for all your sewer surfin’ needs, some new backgrounds, and new vehicle skins. Radical!
Subway Surfers, Free
The kids keep on moving from location to location like they’re running from something. Perhaps they are believed to be dead, and must let the world think they are dead until they can find a way to control the raging spirits that dwell within them? Whatever the case, they’re on their way to Monaco this time. The new surfer is a real dummy. No, really. Its name is Dummy. Well-suited for crashes, no doubt. The new board is the Crash Test Board. I’ll start playing the sad piano tune now.
Cozy Grove,
Cozy Grove got a pretty big update this time around via its free “New Neighbears” DLC. There are four new ghost bears, each with their own stories and requests. You can get access to them by finishing the storylines for the original bears first. Butterflies have been added for the spring and summer seasons, there are some new clothes, the soundtrack gets a new song, there’s a new dye system that allows you to customize decoration colors, and mosquito critters are now a bit more relaxed. There are a few other bits and bobs in there, so do have a look if you have an Apple Arcade subscription.
MARVEL Future Fight, Free
There are a couple of things going on in the latest update to Marvel Future Fight. First of all, we’re coming up on the 7th anniversary of the game somehow. Log in and you’ll apparently get some free rewards. Right, on to the main course. There’s a new Marvel movie out this week about a wizard and a witch and some other strange people. Future Fight has some content connected with it, including new uniforms for Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Wong, and America Chavez. Wong gets his Tier-3 form, too. Seven years, eh? Geez.
Terraria, $4.99
Another hefty update. Lots of excitement this last week, it seems. The highlight here is the Don’t Starve Together crossover content, which includes new items, new pets, a new boss, a new seed world, and some emotes. But that’s not all. The UI and how you interact with it has seen a bunch of little improvements, some new achievements have been added, and keyboard/mouse support has been implemented. There’s more to it than that, but I’ll let you poke around and see what’s what.
LEGO® Brawls,
This game promises LEGO Brawls and it generally delivers. This update offers a new elimination-style mode where the last minifig standing claims the victory. Battle online or via local play, connecting multiple controllers for couch competitions. There are four new mini arenas based on classic LEGO themes, and some new level hazards to deal with. There are also some new power-ups to play with. Other than that, you can look forward to various improvements and bug fixes to make the play experience better.
LEGO® Star Wars™: Castaways,
While we’re peeking in on Apple Arcade LEGO games, why not have a look at LEGO Star Wars: Castaways? This still feels like a weird mish-mash of brands and content to me, but hey, whatever entertains folks. This new version brings Solo: A Star Wars Story to the island, offering up quests and rewards themed around the Solo movie. Gather up minifig parts for the characters from the movie, and perhaps take a little ride on a certain famous ship. That’s one way to get off an island, I guess. There’s also a new Imperial Platform Hippodrome level to play on. Watch out for Imperial ships!
Actraiser Renaissance, $13.99
I suppose you can guess that the last game in the list today is the winner of the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. It was quite a competition, to be sure. Some great updates this time. But this update makes a lot of fixes and adjustments to a game I already liked a lot, making the settlement battles less of a slog and giving you the option to play with rules and mechanics more akin to the original ActRaiser in many ways. If you bounced off this remake before because you found the sim parts troublesome, you might want to give it another try now.
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!