The folks at Orion Arts have released a new update for Galerider, their Panzer Dragoon-like shooter for iOS.
Version 1.4 includes two new wind drakes that you can ride, and two new areas (comprising of six new stages). To give you an idea of how much new content this update includes, the original version featured three areas (nine stages), about an hour and half of play time. The update’s new content is two thirds the size of the original version, which is very impressive for a free update. I haven’t quite finished all of the new stages yet, but it’s set to offer at least another hour of play time (perhaps more with the increased difficulty level of later stages). Panzer Dragoon fans will appreciate the new desert area especially which further makes Galerider feel like a game that could be a part of the series.
What I particularly appreciated about this update is the addition of iPad support. This means that the game is now playable on wide range of different sized touch-screen devices, from the smaller 4.7-inch iPhones all the way up to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I played through some of the stages on a 10.5 inch iPad Pro and it was great being able to see the game’s rich visuals in greater detail. The cloud saves work well too, requiring you to manually upload and download save files from iCloud by pushing a button. I played some of the new stages on my iPhone while out and about, and continued on the larger iPad screen when I arrived home. Galerider is a universal app, so you only have to buy it once to play it on both iPhone and iPad. I know many of you will still be dismayed that the game is still only available on iOS (at this point, there’s no new information on a possible Android version), but given that this game is being made by a small team and both the iPhone and iPad run iOS, the iPad was the next logical step. A step that I’m glad was made.