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Blood Gate - Age of Alchemy Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on August 25th, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: GORY MATCH-3
Blood Gate - Age of Alchemy is a familiar match-3 puzzler with some tricks up its sleeves.
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Rage of Bahamut is Giving Almost All of its Events the Axe

Posted by Rob Rich on July 3rd, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: BETTER THAN IT LOOKS :: Read Review »

The App Store isn't what it used to be back in 2012, so it's not unexpected to see some games changing their structures with the times. Now we can add Rage of Bahamut to that list with the recent announcement that the game is severely cutting back on the number of events it holds.

Still Playing Blood Brothers 2? Good, Because Now it has Guilds and Special Events

Posted by Rob Rich on May 22nd, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: AN AGGRAVATING RELATIVE :: Read Review »

Blood Brothers 2is DeNA's follow-up to their popular strategy RPG of the same name (minus the "2"), and it's just been updated with a bunch of new stuff. New stuff like player guilds and special daily events.

Guilds let players team-up for all sorts of benefits. Along with in-game chat to help members communicate, mastery levels can be pooled and shared with all guildies, any in-app purchases made by a guild member will bestow gifts to every other guild member, and newcomers can begin to enjoy the shared upgrades as soon as they join.

The new special events, on the other hand, include things like daily bonus stages that give players the chance to earn rare items, specially-themed daily packs for everyone to purchse, and treasure boxes containing random rewards will drop whenever players complete a stage.

All of these features are live right now, and you can grab Blood Brothers 2 off the App Store for free to check them out.

Time is Running Out to Join the Beast Wars in TRANSFORMERS: Battle Tactics

Posted by Jessica Fisher on April 13th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

DeNA has been running their first ever event featuring Beast Wars for TRANSFORMERS: Battle Tactics. Beast Wars Episode 1 started on April 9, and will be continuing through April 14. There isn't much time left but you'll be able to team up with Maximals and Predacons from the Beast Wars TV series such as Waspinator, Cheetor, and T-Rex Megatron if you act fast.

TRANSFORMERS: Battle Tactics is free on the App Store, so there's no better time than now to try it out if you haven't already.

Marvel Mighty Heroes Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on April 8th, 2015
Our rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar :: OVERLY SIMPLE
Marvel Mighty Heroes is a simple MOBA that lacks much excitement.
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Marvel Mighty Heroes, the Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, is Here

Posted by Jessica Fisher on April 1st, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar :: OVERLY SIMPLE :: Read Review »

DeNA and Marvel Entertainment have brought us a new action-packed brawler: Marvel Mighty Heroes. You can play with up to four of your friends as you favorite marvel heroes like Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, Star-Lord, Hulk, and Hawkeye, and you'll be collecting new characters and levelling-up as you battle evil and save the world. Each character has different powers and abilities, and you can discover alternate costumes for them that grant new powers.

"Marvel Mighty Heroes starts with old-school Super Hero gameplay from the glory days of playing alongside friends at the arcade and adds a modern twist for mobile devices through intuitive touch controls and global cooperative gameplay,” said Barry Dorf, Vice President of Partnerships and Alliances at DeNA, in a press release. “Marvel fans of all ages will love the timeless characters and evolving Marvel storylines based on classic plots and new story arcs.”

The first in-game event starts today with the release of the game. You'll be playing in a six-part weekly “Infinity” event series, where the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy will be facing off against Thanos, the Mad Titan. Marvel Mighty Heroes is available for free on the App Store.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Rob Rich on March 27th, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: SOME OF THE BRAVEST
It’s not exactly the ultimate all-star gathering we might’ve hoped for, but Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a decent nostalgia trip.
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Military Masters Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on March 24th, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: LACKS PERSONALITY
A Rock, Paper, Scissors style battle, lacking some personality.
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The Nintendo/DeNA Partnership May Not be so Exciting After All

Posted by Jennifer Allen on March 19th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Since the announcement on Tuesday that Nintendo and DeNA are going to start developing mobile games together, everyone’s gotten a bit overexcited. Will it be a disaster? Will it be amazing? Will the world end? Well, probably not. At least, I hope not. While Rob got quite excited about the possible games that this could bring, I feel a little more cynical about what’s going to happen.

I don’t think we’re all doomed by any means. First party Nintendo games on their respective consoles will continue to be awesome because, well, they always are. There’s no need to worry on that front. However, I’m not so sure that the Nintendo/DeNA meeting of minds will really come to that much worthy of note from a gamer's perspective. The more important part is the business and financial side of things.

DeNA are best known for freemium games like their collectible card game, Rage of Bahamut, and oddly distracting and compelling titles like Tiny Tower. Plus, there’s the dabbling in franchises like Star Wars: Galactic Defense and that awkward thing with Godus that no one really likes to talk about any more. They’re all reasonably well made games but are they the stuff that legends are made of? Nope.

Instead, I think this partnership will produce gateway games. Games that are there to highlight the potential of Nintendo to people who don’t normally game. A lot of smartphone owners dabble in games on their phones, but wouldn’t necessarily own a console. Introduce the concept of Nintendo to them and when it comes to considering a console, the name is already in their heads.

Is that a bad thing? Of course not. More people enjoying themselves with games is always a good thing. There’s no need for snobbery. Games have developed to the point that, much like cinema, there’s something for all tastes now. Whether you want a quirky indie darling or a mindless but distracting five minute session of a Match-3 game, you’re covered.

Nintendo won’t be coming up with revolutionary ideas through DeNA’s output, but they might just give you the chance to play a Match-3 game with the faces of Mario, Luigi, and co, or enjoy a card game made up of other familiar faces. Maybe we'll even get to see a Tiny Tower style game with a tower full of Nintendo characters? It'll be shallow but cute.

Regardless, these titles will be the tasty morsels while you’re out and about, before you go home and settle in front of your Wii U and play Super Mario 3D World. You never know, even if you have no interest in mobile gaming, such a deal might just help support your love of console games instead.

Here Are 14 Nintendo Licenses We Think Could Actually Work on Mobile

Posted by Rob Rich on March 18th, 2015

Now that Nintendo has decided to throw their hat into the mobile ring, it's only a matter of time before we'll start seeing Mario and the gang on the App Store. And we're already well past the point where people make free-to-play jokes. But if you really think about it, there are actually a fair number of mobile games that could do well with a Nintendo coat of paint.

With that in mind, we've taken a look at DeNA's current catalog (as well as a couple games from other developers) to try and pair like with as close to like as possible. And we came up with a list of 14 combinations that could actually be pretty interesting once the Big N gets their hands on them.

Nintendo and DeNA Will Be Developing Mobile Games Together, and That's Okay

Posted by Rob Rich on March 17th, 2015

By now most of the world has probably heard about the partnership between Nintendo and DeNA. While it's reasonable to be nervous about this prospect (free-to-play is still something of a slippery slope, and Nintendo's never really done it before), there's really nothing to worry about. In fact, there might even be room for some cautious optimism.

First of all, while Nintendo made it abundantly clear that they aren't going to be porting any of their games to mobile, there's a decent chance that resolve could waver in the future. Now I'm not saying it's a definite, but Nintendo did say that they'd never be bringing their IPs to mobile. And look at them now. So while they might be insisting that there won't be any ports, that tune could change.

Secondly, Nintendo hasn't been doing so great, financially [Editor's Note: Although they're a bit more optimistic about this year]. Assuming this partnership works out, the developer could stand to make quite a bit of money (everybody loves Mario, right?). If nothing else, the potential income from their new mobile library will let them keep making console/handheld games.

Nintendo has also stated that every single one of their properties and characters could potentially see their own mobile games. That's a pretty big back catalogue to pull from. Ignoring the obvious ones like Mario and Donkey Kong, because you just know they're a given, that still leaves all sorts of nostalgic goodies like Balloon Fight, Hogan's Alley, Excite Bike, Clu Clu Land, Gyromite, F-Zero, and so on.

But the biggest reason you shouldn't let any of this worry you is that Nintendo's current and previous games aren't going anywhere. No matter what comes out of this partnership - good or bad - none of it will invalidate the Nintendo games you already know and love.

Check Out the Trailer for the Upcoming FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper

Posted by Jessica Fisher on February 26th, 2015

DeNA and Square Enix have announced that FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper is currently in development. The game is a combination of all of the past Final Fantasy games and allows players to relive their favorite moments from the series. You'll be able to build a team of classic characters such as Tidus, Lightning, and Cloud, and customize them with a ton of iconic gear, powerful spells, summons, and weapons. [Editor's Note: Hopefully it won't be another All the Bravest...]

"FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper delivers the ultimate FINAL FANTASY experience for the dedicated and passionate fans of this franchise and we are excited to work with SQUARE ENIX to bring it to players worldwide this spring," said Shintaro Asako, CEO of DeNA West, in a press release.

FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper is set to release in spring, but if you can't wait you can pre-register at FinalFantasyRecordKeeper.com to receive updates about the game and unlock special in-game characters including Tidus from FINAL FANTASY X.

Co-op Brawler, Marvel Mighty Heroes, is Coming to the App Store Soon

Posted by Jessica Fisher on February 23rd, 2015
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad

DeNA and Marvel Entertainment have just released a trailer for the, Marvel Mighty Heroes. The brawler will pit super heroes against super villains from the Marvel universe - including classic characters such as Iron Man, Groot, Captain America, Star-Lord, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Spider-Man. You'll get to develop your own team of super stars and even play against your friends in multiplayer.

"Building off of the success of Marvel War of Heroes, our first Marvel-licensed title, Marvel Mighty Heroes, is a fast and tactical battle game that will combine evolving Marvel stories with enthralling co-op and competitive multiplayer gameplay,” said Barry Dorf, Vice President of Partnerships and Alliances at DeNA. “Marvel fans and gamers alike will have the chance to create the ultimate team of Super Heroes and Super Villains to take on waves of enemies from the Marvel Universe.”

You can pre-register for the game on the Marvel Mighty Heroes site, and you'll get to vote for Hulk or Rocket to be a a free special hero at launch for a limited time.

Marvel Mighty Heroes will be free to download on the App Store soon.

Yet It Moves Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on February 9th, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: FLAWED DELIGHT
Yet It Moves is the iOS release of And Yet It Moves, a great indie puzzle platformer. It suffers from some occasionally annoying controls.
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Transform and Roll Out - Transformers: Battle Tactics is Now Available for iOS

Posted by Tre Lawrence on February 5th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

DeNA and Hasbro Inc are pairing up to bring another game from the latter's Transformers franchise to iOS.

It's called Transformers: Battle Tactics, and is a turn-based game that brings to bear the comic book story Combiner Wars and the historic Transformers Generations universe.


▪ Compete in live real-time PVP showdowns with players from around the globe while earning rare TRANSFORMERS characters, valuable resources, and prestige at the top of the leaderboards

▪ Collect iconic TRANSFORMERS characters while teaming up AUTOBOT and DECEPTICON characters side-by-side.

▪ Calculate strategic decisions by leveraging unique TRANSFORMERS character modes to take control of the battlefield in any situation and obliterate the enemy.

▪ Link TRANSFORMERS characters to create powerful Combiners to deal devastating damage in battle!

▪ Connect with friends to form leagues and seek advantage over the competition. Earn powerful rewards and placement at the top of the leader boards.

Transformers: Battle Tactics is available now for free (with optional in-app purchases).