Classic iPhone Game 'Tiny Wings' Launches on Apple Arcade This Friday

[Havoc035]

If this is the kind of game Apple Arcade keeps releasing then I won’t resubscribe. Where are the new AAA mobile titles like Oceanhorn 2 and Genshin impact?

 

[Chris5488]

Makes me crave for the even older Flight Control, one of the earliest but also most popular iPhone games. It was as simple as it was fun and addicting with nice art style. Falls under the same class as Tiny Wings as you could say. It got abandoned by it's developer and was never updated again to work on newer iOS or MacOS versions.

 

[Janichsan]

I liked this game on my iPhone 4S, but what is so "+" about this version?

Good question. The original (which is still available) also has neither in-app-purchases nor ads.

 

[attila]

Tiny wings? Try “Flappy Bird.”

Completely different games and Tiny Wings had more effort put into it. It's really sweet and with a pleasant soundtrack.

Levels are also procedurally regenerated daily.

 

[Janichsan]

If this is the kind of game Apple Arcade keeps releasing then I won’t resubscribe. Where are the new AAA mobile titles like Oceanhorn 2 and Genshin impact?

Oceanhorn 2 is on Apple Arcade, and has been from day one. It's right there, front and center on the banner:

And Genshin Impact is a game which has been designed around gacha mechanics. Its design is fundamentally opposed to the no ads/no microtransaction basics of Apple Arcade.

 

[Havoc035]

Oceanhorn 2 is on Apple Arcade, and has been from day one. It's right there, front and center on the banner:

And Genshin Impact is a game which has been designed around gacha mechanics. Its design is fundamentally opposed to the no ads/no microtransaction basics of Apple Arcade.

I know about both games. What I meant was that I was hoping for more games of similar AAA class on Apple Arcade.

 

[Janichsan]

I know about both games. What I meant was that I was hoping for more games of similar AAA class on Apple Arcade.

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood your griping then.

Anyway, GI really never was an Apple Arcade game, for the reasons I mentioned.

 

[scottishwildcat]

The state of gaming on iOS is really disappointing. For 12 years I've believed that the iPhone had the potential to be the best gaming platform, bar none, but it seems like developers stopped trying a decade ago.

A handheld device with touch-first controls is never going to be the best gaming platform bar none. Most popular perhaps, most lucrative almost certainly, but you're never going to get the diversity, quality, and/or downright size of AAA games that you get on a PC or console.

 

[dr_lha]

I liked this game on my iPhone 4S, but what is so "+" about this version?

Likely nothing. Apple seems to add "+" to old games names to differentiate them as Apple Arcade versions, but the few I've played showed no obvious differences.

I guess I'm the only person who likes Apple Arcade. I really like being able to mobile game without all the annoying pay-to-win mechanics. Currently addicted to Zookeeper World.

 

[Mcsnee]

I'm not convinced of the value proposition of Arcade, which so far seems to be (1) niche games that are so short that they are basically no more than demos (e.g., Assemble With Care), and (2) seeking to charge users a monthly fee so they can play a very slightly upgraded version of a game the users have already bought (e.g., every game with "+" after the title, which is most of the games they've put in Arcade recently). About the only exception--for me, at least--has been Grindstone, which is a great game, but which is not worth $5 a month to play.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I stopped trying new iOS games when the majority of them simultaneously decided that in-game music was optional.

Interesting... is audio what separates real games from the stuff that's on iOS?

I never considered it before, but that may be it...

 

[svish]

Remember playing flappy bird. This game looks the same.

 

[ackmondual]

I stopped trying new iOS games when the majority of them simultaneously decided that in-game music was optional.

There were a lot of unhappy gamers when Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time removed BGM to save on storage space. IIRC, both Google Play and iOS App Store has some limits with how large files could be. O1H, the game is huge and has a lot of content, but OTOH, I still missed it (before I ultimately quit the game).

 

[ackmondual]

Hah, both my wife and I were addicted to this game a decade ago. It was good simple fun. But then the diminishing returns on the high scores began to take a toll and it was lost to time. Perhaps I will secretly load it onto her home screen and we can relive the past for a while. I never game on iPhone anymore. Some on iPad and Apple TV now that it can use console controllers. Mostly on my Series X, PS5 and Switch. Xbox Game Pass is a great deal. My kids mainly use Apple Arcade. There was just something about the early App Store that was absolutely killed when they added IAP and that started bleeding the fun out of everything. I’d read Touch Arcade all the time to get the latest recommendations. So many amazing games back then.

Make iOS games fun again. Keep it simple.

I used to visit Touch Arcade a lot. However, I went from playing a lot of iOS games, to just a few, now down to virtually none. Many users felt they were being "silenced" in not being able to discuss if a game has MTX (microtransactions) or not. Ditto with IAP, freemium, "free-to-play" and other related models. One of the mods on that site responded that many game devs have stopped posting onto the site since they'd like users to discuss the actual game itself, and other related stuff, but too much of the message boards get bogged down by "freemium or not freemium".

I guess another change is with the Switch having came out in 2017, it's a 'not so shabby' competitor to mobile gaming again (something the Wii U had to struggle with).

I'm not convinced of the value proposition of Arcade, which so far seems to be (1) niche games that are so short that they are basically no more than demos (e.g., Assemble With Care), and (2) seeking to charge users a monthly fee so they can play a very slightly upgraded version of a game the users have already bought (e.g., every game with "+" after the title, which is most of the games they've put in Arcade recently). About the only exception--for me, at least--has been Grindstone, which is a great game, but which is not worth $5 a month to play.

It seems to be doing what's expected, but not much else more.
Specifically, for the former... games with ads and MTX removed, which makes it very suitable for younger children, and others who just don't want to deal with all that. Apple also showcased some talent, and mentioned there were programs to help devs get their games onto this platform.
For the latter... I'd imagine if you're the type to play a game, be done with it, and likely never touch it again, that's great. However, it ended up not getting that many exclusives. Some of the material was already available on other platforms (through regular payment, or perhaps Google Play's version of this). Yet other stuff was sort of meh.

I was originally intrigued with Apple Arcade. Read some reviews of it as time went by. Biggest obstacle back then was all of my iDevices were old af. Then time limits. I'm already playing vg on PC/console, streaming, and some minor video games on phone (like digital board games). I'm still on the fence about an iPad 9th gen, but even if I get one, still not sure I'll do AA.