I can feel it in my bones. Deep in the marrow. 2017 could well be the best year for mobile gaming that we’ve ever seen. Or it might be early onset arthritis. Either way, something is a-brewing.
With that in mind I thought I should give you a heads-up on some of the games you should be looking out for this year. They all look genuinely interesting, but obviously you want to take these suggestions with a pinch of salt.
They might be rubbish when they come out, and they might not come out at all. Such is the fickle nature of the App Store beast.
With that in mind, here are some of the titles you should be adding to your watchlist in 2017.
Framed 2
The original Framed was just that - an original. It did things differently, and that’s always something to shout super loud about. And it also means we’re pretty excited to see what the sequel has to offer.
The comic book panel shifting mechanic is still in place, but this is a whole new adventure with different characters and an extra layer of polish. The first game looked great, this one looks awesome.
And since Framed won a bunch of awards and plaudits from the likes of Hideo Kojima (yes, him), you can bet there’s going to be a lot of buzz around this one in 2017.
Read the Pocket Gamer review of Framed here.
Modern Combat Versus
Let’s be honest, the single player campaigns in Gameloft’s shooty shooty bang bang series have been on the wane for a good long while now. So seeing the dev embrace the fact that everyone loves shooting other people is intriguing.
Mobile could really do with an excellent multiplayer shooter. And while the likes of Afterpulse have tried, none of them have yet managed to hit that sweet spot between playability and portability.
So colour me cautiously optimistic for this one. If Gameloft can get it right, and I see no reasons why it shouldn’t, this could be the must play multiplayer battler of 2017.
Read the Pocket Gamer review of Modern Combat 5 here.
Nintendo’s next steps
Let’s not beat around the bush here, Super Mario Run was ace. It was so ace I’ve included our video review of it in a part of the article that’s talking about other games.
Nintendo’s next two mobile games are already confirmed. We’re getting Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem in 2017. And quite frankly I couldn’t be more excited.
Animal Crossing has always felt like it should be a mobile game anyway, and Fire Emblem is exactly the sort of series that could thrive in more portable surroundings.
And since Super Mario Run showed that the big N really understands mobile gaming, these are definitely going to be two games to keep an eye out for.
Read the Pocket Gamer review of Super Mario Run here.
Star Wars Force Arena
It’s a mobile Star Wars MOBA featuring characters from the bits of the series that are still canon. And Darth Vader can force choke people. I honestly can’t think of anything better than that.
Well, I can, and the proof of the blue milk pudding will be in the tasting of the blue milk pudding. But there’s a good chance that this might be the game that really ignites the MOBA genre on mobile.
It looks good, there are Jedi and Sith in it, and you can pre-register for the experience right now by clicking on this link right here. Here’s hoping the force is with this one. Like they say in the movies, yeah?
