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With anticipation for the launch of the Switch growing every day as we edge ever closer to its March 3 release date, you’d be forgiven forgetting that Nintendo is also putting plenty of its resources towards aggressively pursuing the mobile market in 2017. Earlier this week Nintendo revealed that its first ever smartphone game – Super Mario Run – had been downloaded a whopping 78 million times since releasing on iOS at the backend of last year, with 4 million paying $9.99/£9.99 for the full fat experience.
Now its second title built from the ground up for mobile is upon us: Fire Emblem Heroes. The long-running series has enjoyed huge success across a whole host of Nintendo systems, including the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, DS, 3DS, and Wii, and fans are hopeful that it’s trademark brand of turn-based strategy will suit iOS and Android devices down to the ground. Indeed, unlike Super Mario Run, the Android users are able to enjoy Fire Emblem Heroes day-in-date with their counterparts in iPhone and iPad. Super Mario Run isn’t due for release on the Google Play Store until next month.
In Fire Emblem Heroes, you’ll lead your miniature armies with touch and drag controls, attacking enemies by simply swiping over them with one of your troops. You’ll need to build a balanced team of heroes to be successful, and each comes stocked with their own special moves to help you to victory on the battlefield. The game’s story mode tasks you with saving the Kingdom of Askr, but you can also spice things up by engaging in competitive bouts against other players.
As with Super Mario Run, you can download Fire Emblem Heroes for free. There’s no limit to how much of the game you can access without paying, but there are in-app purchases to help you on your way. An Internet connection is required to play, so unfortunately you can’t explore Askr to pass time on a long-haul flight, and you also need a Nintendo Account. You can download Fire Emblem Heroes from the Google Play Store here, and the App Store link is here.
The next big Nintendo franchise to come to mobile is Animal Crossing, which is a game that – on paper at least – suits portable play down to the ground. Unfortunately Nintendo isn’t being too specific on when we might see it. It could be released anytime between April this year and March 2018, so there’s likely plenty of time for you to think about how you’re going to pay off Tom Nook this time round.
Image/Trailer: Nintendo
