42 App Store Games that are cut (or going away)

Hey! And without further ado, the Top 42 App Store games that are cut (or going away), brought to you by the 32-bit Appocalypse! Here I’m mixing a catalogue of games existing soon only in memory with thoughts about them.

The Top 5 Crashing Games (Alphabetical order)
Games that crash on start-up or are uncontrollable. Also, they’re probably cut from the App Store.
1. BioShock (Crash)
2. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights II (Crash)
3. My Katamari (Uncontrollable)
4. Rogue/Nethack (Crash)
5. Squareball (Uncontrollable)

The Story of BIOshock
BioShock on the App Store is one of the craziest chapters in the App Store history. BioShock for iOS came out three years ago, but broke down after only a year. All that work, destroyed by the legendary iOS 8.4. Afterwards, the app was cut away and despite being discussed about once a year since then, in 2017, developer 2K finally admitted it’s dead. I bought it about a week before it broke and doubt anyone will refund it anymore. At least, I completed the first chapter first.

Ghost in the Store
As we all know, iOS updates break apps. But, have you heard of the opposite happening? Ghost 'n Goblins Gold Knights (I) was never updated for the iPhone 5 and stopped working in the early iPhone 5 era, but the app was still available on the App Store. I bought it, before it was cut away. And, much to my surprise, the app started working again with the iOS 10-ish update and… it played in full-screen on an iPhone 5/7! Unfortunately, Gold Knights II doesn’t work at all.

And about the others…
I imagine Katamari would control very well with your fingers, but unfortunately there are no actual, classic Katamari games on the App Store anymore. The original Rogue and Nethack apps from 2008 are still on the App Store and they even have alright reviews for the alleged “current version” though the reviews are eight years old. I don’t believe any Rogue app exists on the App Store anymore, except for Brogue for iPad, but Nethack was superseded by Nethack “2”. Squareball was a fun app with a great soundtrack that didn’t appear on any other system.

The Top 14 Games Unupdated since the 3rd iPhone Generation (Alphabetical order)
1. 1112: Episode One
2. Arkanoid
3. Cube
4. Eliss
5. Galaxy on Fire
6. GeoSnake
7. Mini Squadron
8. Pac-Man Championship Edition
9. Puzzle Prism
10. Ravensword: The Fallen King
11. Resident Evil 4
12. TapDefense
13. Unify
14. Zombie Pizza

I originally wrote this a year ago, but hopefully these are still available for history aficionados! 1112 was an adventure mystery with two sequels. Unfortunately, they were never updated, which is… mysterious. Arkanoid was an excellent app with a lot of content. Hope to see it again eventually. Cube is a Quake clone available on a lot of systems and when it first was available on the App Store, it was the only 3D first-person shooter, but it played super-slowly. Amusingly, the app is still available and it runs perfectly on current iPhones, without any slowdown, so get it and experience the technological evolution! Eliss was a cute and original concept game and recently got a sequel called Eliss Infinity. Galaxy on Fire was super-impressive at the time and spawned an even more impressive sequel, too. GeoSnake was one of the first modernisations of Snake on iOS, which was followed by many. Mini Squadron is a fairly fun 2D airplane action game that’s still fun, though unfortunately, unupdated. Pac-Man Championship Edition is superseded by its sequel, I guess, but they’re not the same and it’s a shame the original was never updated. Puzzle Prism was another early 3D experimental game. Ravensword was the first 3rd-person 3D RPG (along Dungeon Hunter) on iOS and became a franchise. Resident Evil 4 was an excellent app of one of the classic games of all time, though instead of playing the game all the way through, you only played one area at a time, but everything was still in there. The village, the house attack, the castle, the island, and all except for about two bosses. TapDefense was my favourite Tower Defense back when it was a super popular App Store genre. It has a tax system, which challenges you to build as few towers as possible without dying, which is something I personally don’t remember seeing in any other game in the genre. Unify is another of the best games that aren’t updated. It’s my favourite Tetris-style game after Tetris, Bejeweled and Drop7. It’s really a masterpiece, developed by Zach Gage, the Ridiculous Fishing developer. Zombie Pizza was quite fun, but very basic.

The Top 10 Cut Games Unupdated since the 3rd iPhone Generation (Alphabetical order)
1. Chop Sushi!
2. Darkest Fear
3. Dropship
4. Dungeon Hunter
5. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights
6. Hero of Sparta
7. Space Ninja
8. Sway
9. Undercroft
10. Wolfenstein RPG

A lot of classics here. My favourite is “Chop Sushi!”, which is actually an excellent game. It has great graphics and is super “oishii”. You may remember “Darkest Fear” from the “dumbphone” days and I think it’s still available online. Dropship had great graphics when it came out, though it’s not really original in any way. Dungeon Hunter has become a franchise, but the original has audio issues and isn’t available anymore. I’ve mentioned Ghost ‘n Goblins Gold Knights above. Hero of Sparta is a God of War clone that had great graphics at the time. Space Ninja is a bullet hell where you can’t attack, which is interesting and original AFAIK. Undercroft was a cool competitor of The Quest. Wolfenstein RPG is from the “dumbphone” id days.

The Top 7 Games Unupdated since the 4th iPhone Generation (Alphabetical order)
1. Fieldrunners
2. Galcon
3. Hook Champ
4. Meteor Blitz
5. Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting
6. Super QuickHook
7. The Sword of Fargoal

I originally wrote this a year ago, but hopefully these are still available for history aficionados! As I’ve mentioned above (and below) Tower Defence was one of the greatest genres on the App Store at one time and Fieldrunners was the one that exploded and became one of the best-selling apps before Angry Birds came out. It’s surprising it isn’t updated, though there’s sequels. Galcon was a super-elegant strategy game that made waves on the App Store, but it quickly spawned sequels and the original app was unupdated. Hook Champ is not only one of my favourite games among all these, but one of my favourite games of all time, any system. It’s developed by Rocketcat Games who went on to make Super QuickHook, Mage Gauntlet, Wayward Souls, and Deathroad to Canada. However, Hook Champ is the game that really got them off the ground (get it?) and it’s really an amazing game, but, unbelievably, unupdated. Meteor Blitz is one of the best overhead shooters, which was one of the first games to use virtual sticks that centre where you place your thumbs, making it control way better than the competition and it’s still really fun. The Sword of Fargoal was one of the early original iOS roguelikes, based on an older game and it got a sequel, both unupdated.

Monster Hunter iOS History
Monster Hunter is one of the biggest franchises in Japan, but unheard of in the West. We’ve only got every other game in the series, usually a year after Japan and they’re spread out across all different systems: PS2, PSP, Wii, and 3DS, making them difficult to follow. Dynamic Hunting was Capcom’s first attempt on the App Store and I didn’t play it back in the day, but bought it recently and it’s actually decent, especially for its time (2011). But, now for a much more familiar story. Three years ago, Capcom released Freedom Unite (FU), which broke down after a year, when the legendary iOS 8.4 came out, just like BioShock. Unlike BioShock, FU was finally fixed a year ago and remains one of the best games on the App Store. In fact, FU is one of the games with the most content of any game, any system (500 hours of singleplayer content). A lot. Capcom also made a game called Monster Hunter Explorers to tie in with Monster Hunter X and I found a lot of fun and superbly designed, but unfortunately it was quickly discontinued.

The Top 4 Cut Games Unupdated since the 4th iPhone Generation (Alphabetical order)
1. Flight Control
2. Real Racing
3. Rullaan
4. SimCity Deluxe

Flight Control was one of the top-selling apps before Angry Birds and frankly, I was super surprised when it one day disappeared from the App Store without warning. It’s one of the best apps on the App Store, a part of App Store history and original and fun, creating a genre of games in its wake. As far as I know, it was still selling a ton when it was cut and I’ve never heard any explanation of why, either. I still have the app and it works. Real Racing is another App Store classic, which has become a franchise since the original release. Rullaan was a competitor of Edge, I guess. SimCity apps still exist on the App Store, but today they’re clickers instead of real SimCity.

The Top 2 Cut Games Unupdated since the 5rd iPhone Generation (Alphabetical order)
1. Bit.trip Beat
2. GeoDefense

Bit.trip Beat is a good game and it’s a shame to see it go without update. At the dawn of iOS gaming, the Tower Defence genre was super popular and GeoDefense was widely regarded as the best at the time.

Conclusion
Out of all these games, I really hope to see updates of Hook Champ, Super QuickHook, Unify, Chop Sushi! and Flight Control one day. But, there are many other games that it will be a shame to see probably go in the 32-bit Appocalypse, such as Arkanoid, Cube, Eliss, Galaxy on Fire, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Resident Evil 4, TapDefense, Dropship, Space Ninja, Sway, Undercroft, Fieldrunners, Galcon, Meteor Blitz, The Sword of Fargoal, Real Racing, and GeoDefense. Also, all of this is only based on games I own and I’m sure there are many other games missing.