5 dead Android games we want to see return

14 Nov 2024, 01:20 by Jon Gilbert · Android Police

One unexpected event of 2024 was the announcement that Flappy Bird is coming back, ten years after it vanished from the App Store and Play Store. While this is great news for everyone who missed its addictive gameplay, it's an exception to the rule that discontinued Android games don't return.

If you regularly use hardware like the most powerful gaming tablets, you'll know how frustrating it is to have your favorite games disappear for good. There are plenty of fantastic Android games in 2024, but many games that would be at home in our round-up have been unavailable for years. Here are the games we wish would return from the cold, like Flappy Bird.

5 Peggle

Peggle Blast is a shadow of the original game

Source: Peggle

The mobile port of Peggle launched as a free Amazon Appstore exclusive on June 21, 2011. It was made available for $2.99 on the Play Store and iOS. The mobile version suffered from poor UI scaling and device support, but it was an impressive port of the PC and console versions.

Peggle was quietly removed from the Play Store in 2014 to make way for Peggle Blast, a free-to-play spin-off packed with microtransactions. While Peggle Blast offered slick graphics and fresh animations, the aggressive monetization left us longing for the classic again.

Unlike Peggle 2, which can be played over the cloud through the Xbox Game Pass app, there isn't a similar workaround for Peggle. While we would love to see it return to our devices, it's unlikely to do so as long as Peggle Blast exists.

10 best Xbox Cloud Gaming titles with touch controls

These Xbox Game Pass games work great with just a touchscreen when streamed through xCloud

4 Shadowrun Returns

One of the best turn-based RPGs on the Play Store

Shadowrun Returns was a fantastic turn-based tactical RPG that disappeared from the Play Store six years ago. This was because Google's implementation of GDPR-compliant policies on the Play Store delisted non-compliant apps and games overnight without warning. Hundreds of publishers, including Shadowrun Returns developer Harebrained, woke up to see that their games had disappeared from the Play Store. Harebrained claimed a quick fix would bring the game back within two years. It's been six years, and we're still waiting.

Shadowrun Returns launched in 2013 for $9.99, a significant price for a mobile game in an era before AAA ports were common. Its isometric gameplay, classic RPG features, excellent graphics, strategic turn-based combat, and flexible class building made it an instant hit. Shadowrun Returns deserves to be returned to our phones and tablets. It would still be one of the best RPGs on Android.

3 Dead Space

A surprisingly good mobile spin-off

Games like XCOM 2, Alien: Isolation, and Minecraft use modern hardware to deliver console-quality gaming through Android phones and tablets. However, 2011 was a different time, where the closest you could get to a console or PC experience was through spin-offs of wildly varying quality.

Dead Space stood out as a fantastic example of a mobile spin-off of an established console game. IronMonkey Studios accurately recreated the feel of the main series on your phones, keeping the survival horror gameplay while making necessary compromises for mobile hardware. It was a fantastic example of how to make a great mobile spin-off, but EA quietly removed the game in early 2016.

We think Dead Space should return, as games like Alien: Isolation have proved that there is plenty of interest in mobile horror games. But unlike Alien: Isolation, Dead Space proved that you can create a successful horror game exclusively for mobile. However, it needs a graphical upgrade to stand out today.

2 Zenonia 1, 2, and 3

Classic ARPGs with a retro twist

Source: Zenonia 4 / Play Store

The Zenonia series started in 2010 as an action RPG designed for mobile devices (including consoles like the Nintendo DSi). The original game was favorably compared to classic RPG games like The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. It spawned five sequels, culminating with Zenonia S in 2015.

The sequels to Zenonia didn't take long to appear. Zenonia 2 launched on Android two days after the original launched (Zenonia launched first on iOS in 2009), and Zenonia 3 arrived 11 months later. These games were well-received thanks to their combination of retro RPG themes and modern features. Still, they were removed from the Play Store in 2014.

21 best RPGs on Android in 2024

Lose yourself in a brand new world

While Zenonia 4 and 5 are still available to download from the Play Store, the reviews are filled with complaints that the games suffer from bugs that render the game unplayable. We would love to see the Zenonia series available for download from the Play Store without the game-breaking bugs. There are plenty of great RPGs to enjoy in 2024, but Zenonia is sorely missed.

1 The N.O.V.A. trilogy

FPS games that didn't cut corners

Mobile devices have never been the best platform for FPS games due to the limitations of touch-screen controls. However, the N.O.V.A. games showed us that you could have a full-featured FPS game on mobile, equal to console shooters of the time. While the games lacked originality (there were many parallels between N.O.V.A. and games like Crysis and Halo), they were packed with enough content to satisfy any FPS fan.

Gameloft released a remake of the first N.O.V.A. game, called N.O.V.A. Legacy, in 2017. Following its launch, the N.O.V.A. trilogy was removed from the Play Store. N.O.V.A. Legacy lasted six years before it too disappeared in 2023.

While we wouldn't expect the multiplayer elements of the N.O.V.A. games to return due to the cost of the servers, we would love to play the single-player campaigns again. In the meantime, we can play Halo via the Xbox Game Pass app.

Many Android games were too good to be forgotten

These Android games were some of the biggest titles lost to time. As Flappy Bird's resurgence has shown, there's always hope. Many of these games, like N.O.V.A. and Zenonia, were staples of the Play Stores library and would likely be well received if they were to return.

These Android games are just a drop in the ocean of games removed from the Play Store. Perhaps you miss Mass Effect: Infiltrator? Let's not forget Tiny Death Star, the Star Wars-themed spin-off of Tiny Tower. In an era where developers neglect Android games, we would welcome the return of some mobile classics.