Best iPhone Game Updates: ‘Dead Cells’, ‘Pokemon Masters’, ‘AFK Arena’, ‘Disney Heroes’, and More

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. I’m in an odd mood today, so please forgive any odd tangents I may go on while we head out on this journey of checking some recent updates. There are some good games in here, with many squeezing out the last drops of summer with special events. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or 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!

Mario Kart Tour, Free Mario Kart Tour keeps on rolling out the events, with the latest being the Summer Festival Tour that takes you through a new Tokyo course, Tokyo Blur 3. I mean, it’s a slightly re-arranged version of the old Tokyo course, but we take what we can get around here. If you’re very lucky, you can get a special version of Daisy wearing a nice summer yukata. She’s all dressed up and ready to go to no summer festivals because they all got canceled. There’s also a new kart and glider to go with her. This event started last week, but there’s still plenty of time to go through it if you start today.

Toon Blast, Free Let’s get the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update out of the way early this week again. It’s Toon Blast. The description this time actually has a little bit of relevance as it’s apparently the game’s third anniversary. Is that right? It feels older than that, but maybe I’m thinking of Toy Blast. Whether it’s real or pure fancy, it still results in the same new version with fifty new levels to play. Some things, they never change. Until they do. Hug your grandmother the next time you see her, friends.

Star Traders: Frontiers, $6.99 The Trese Brothers are so good at what they do that not even a global pandemic can slow these guys down. Here’s yet another solid update to the awesome Star Traders: Frontiers, a game that started out awesome and has only gotten better with time. New Rare Relic gear appears in the form of the Bladeguide Aegis, Slindo Trade Slate, Perk Balm, and Allistar Edgeweave. There’s some new level 5 Specialist gear, and a bunch of improvements and balance tweaks. Not the biggest of updates, but that Rare Relic gear has me sweating, no lies. I shall make it mine.

The King of Fighters ALLSTAR, Free Hey now, you’re a King of Fighters All Star, get your game on, go play. I probably made this joke before. But you know, we’ve had a ridiculous heat wave here for the last few weeks so we’re lucky my brain isn’t complete pudding by now. Delicious maple pudding. Must… not… eat… own brain… what? Okay, so this new version. It has a couple of new summer-themed fighters. It also has a new special summer dungeon called Protect the Watermelon. You’d better do what it says, pal. There are also some bug fixes. With that all reported, it’s time to move on. Definitely do not eat your own brains. TouchArcade does not endorse it in the least.

Pokémon Masters EX, Free Speaking of anniversaries, this game is apparently a year old now. Mmm, I can still taste the disappointment from its launch. Oh well, that was then, this is now. The latest version adds some new content and does some bug fixes and performance improvements, with much of the new content related to the anniversary. If you bounced off it at launch, this might be a good excuse to slide back in and see if it’s more to your liking with all of the improvements that have hit since then. Still, if I can’t play as the mustache-clad Professor Oak from that one knock-off that hit the App Store five years ago, what is the point of any of this? C’mon, Game Freak. Give me Mustache Oak! GIVE HIM TO ME!

AFK Arena, Free AFK Arena! It’s not a cereal, but it is a game. One out of two isn’t bad at all. There’s a ton of new stuff in the latest version, though it forgoes the usual new hero business. There are new adventures to play, some new options, a bunch of balance tweaks and fixes to several heroes, some improvements to the UI, and more. And if you’re craving that new character hit, worry not. I’m certain there will be a new fighter before too long. It’s just how it is in the wacky world of AFK Arena. Which I must reiterate is a game, and not a cereal.

Dead Cells, $3.99 The stunning Dead Cells is on sale for a ridiculously low price as I write this, and if that’s not enough it also got a great update to go with it. The game hasn’t seen any updates for several months, so this one is quite welcome. It’s mostly a lot of fixes and general improvements, but it goes a long way towards addressing some bugs that players found while playing and replaying. There’s also some new performance options that allow you to adjust the resolution and other aspects to suit your needs. Willing to give up a bit of sharpness for smoother gameplay? There’s an option for that now. I’ll give this the coveted UMMSotW award for this week, less for the update and more for the great game. No one can stop my evil reign.

ANOTHER EDEN, Free Another Eden is, I can safely say at this point, one of my favorite free-to-play mobile RPGs of all-time. It’s fun, fair, gets constant updates, and the story is interesting. The latest version isn’t a very big one, but it does add a new encounter that sees you running into Veina’s Another Style. Beyond that, it’s mostly the usual business of fixing bugs and correcting various writing errors. Well, that’s fine. I don’t need a content fire hose going off 24/7. That would just be silly. Or would it just be the modern games business? Something to think about.

Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, Free Disney Heroes has such an odd mix of characters in it. I think that’s one of the coolest things about it, though. Like, the latest update adds two characters to the game. One of them is Slinky Dog from Pixar’s Toy Story movies. The other? Angel from Lilo and Stitch: The Series. Talk about your deep cuts! If you don’t remember her, she’s Experiment 624. She’s pink and her singing changes people from good to evil. She appeared in a few episodes and later became Stitch’s love interest so that they could sell more merchandise at Tokyo Disney Resort. Well sure, why not add her to the roster? Weird game.

Sonic Forces - Racing Battle, Free There have been a lot of Sonic games over the last few decades, covering a wide array of characters and themes. Going beyond the games, there are successful comics, TV shows, and even a movie. What I’m trying to say is that Sonic Forces has a lot of places to grab characters from, so the latest one has me scratching my head a little. I’d let you all guess, but I don’t think anyone would suggest Sonic & the Black Knight. Yes, the Wii game. The second one. The one everyone hated. Maybe the worst Sonic game? At least Sonic ’06 is enjoyably bad. Anyway, the newest even in Sonic Forces lets you bring a piece of that game to your roster in the form of Excalibur Sonic. Well, it’s a cool character design. Maybe this game can reform it?

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!