Final Fantasy and Super Monkey Ball 2 coming to Xbox Live on Windows Phone

Final Fantasy iOS

Just a week ago, we looked at a number of Xbox Live games whose Achievements were discovered by avid French gamer Zebrasqual: Mirror's Edge, Battleship, and Fling. I daresay Mr. Squal's sleuthing rivals my own, equally he has uncovered 2 more future games' Achievement lists. Both titles will surely appeal to console gamers: Final Fantasy and Super Monkey Ball ii: Sakura Edition.

Head by the break for full details on both upcoming games.

Final Fantasy

Way back in July of 2022, Windows Phone Central asked our readers which mobile games they would about like to meet ported to Xbox Alive on Windows Phone. The results: a nifty many gamers wished for RPGs, especially those from Japanese programmer Square Enix. While the reader submission nosotros most favored from Square Enix'south iOS lineup was Chaos Rings, any of the developer's games at all is certainly a step in the right management.

Final Fantasy is poised to be the outset traditional RPG in the Windows Telephone lineup (puzzle RPGs like Castlevania Puzzle and Puzzle Quest 2 don't quite count). That seems fitting, since the game is a remake of the 1987 Famicom/NES original that vaulted Square Soft (later Square Enix) to stardom.

At the beginning of the game, players choose 4 characters from a pool of classes: warriors, monks, thieves, blackness mages, white mages, and reddish mages. These characters become the Warriors of Calorie-free, destined to defeat the 4 evil Elemental Fiends, restore low-cal to the elemental orbs, and save the globe. The story and gameplay system are fairly simplistic by modern standards, but they also helped lay the groundwork for many JRPGs (Japanese Role-Playing Games) to come.

Final Fantasy iOS

Screens from iOS version

The mobile version of Final Fantasy is based on the PSP version, then information technology features much-enhanced visuals and music over the NES original. The difficulty has besides been toned down to more than reasonable levels. Don't recollect the game is just a walk in the park though; the unlockable Labyrinth of Time amps up the difficulty to extreme levels while besides offering the best gear in the game. It's non necessary to complete the story, thankfully.

Final Fantasy'south Achievements are all hugger-mugger, which means only players who have unlocked them can view their descriptions. In JRPGs, developers usually make story-based Achievements clandestine in club to avert spoiling the story. Nosotros can safely presume y'all'll unlock all 18 of them by merely completing the game. As for Final Fantasy's toll: it costs $viii.99 on iOS. Await the Windows Phone version to become for $6.99 (the current maximum price indicate for mobile Xbox Live titles) when information technology debuts.

Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition

The first Super Monkey Ball on Windows Phone was disappointing for a number of reasons (all listed in our review): fiddly, not-adaptable tilt controls; occasionally absurd difficulty; problematic Achievements (even post-update); and the lack of the serial' famous minigames or multiplayer features. Of course, most of those problems stalk from the iPhone original, which launched with Apple'south App Store manner dorsum in 2008. It was a dark time. Fast frontwards to 2022 and we naturally wondered why SEGA hadn't just ported the superior sequel…

Skillful thing and then that Super Monkey Brawl 2 improves on most of its predecessor'south faults. The frustration cistron has been greatly reduced by more reasonable stage pattern and better tilt controls (withal no virtual stick, sadly). The 125 new stages spread across six themed worlds will surely be easier to enjoy as a result.

Super Monkey Ball 2 Android

Android version

Most excitingly, SMB2 includes at to the lowest degree three minigames: Monkey Target (fire a monkey at a target), Monkey Golf (18 holes of golf), and Monkey Bowl (ten frames of bowling). Not only should these exist great fun on their own, but they even support 4-person multiplayer via local Wi-Fi (merely like Pac-Man Kart Rally).

That's all well and good, simply the presence of a 4-thespian specific Achievement worth twenty GamerScore is quite unnecessary. Some people have trouble enough finding a second Windows Phone owner in their expanse, so requiring 4 phones with 4 copies of the game is screwing the pooch. The 50 GamerScore Accomplishment for unlocking all 10 crown levels will likely be super difficult likewise, merely at least that's a single-player headache.

Wondering about the Sakura Edition moniker? The original iOS Super Monkey Ball 2 launched in 2009 and received updates through 2022. SEGA then produced a hi-res edition for more powerful iOS devices and the iPad, calling it the Sakura Edition. On Windows Phone we naturally go the Sakura Edition, though it volition probable lack the iOS version's online multiplayer, which was just added in Apr.

SEGA tells us Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition may come to Xbox Live every bit early as June. Information technology will cost either $4.99 or $2.99.

Source (for Accomplishment lists): wp7lynx

Information technology'south here

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