After ten years, over 500 published articles for TouchArcade, and having to endure a week of excruciating teasing from the HandCircus Twitter account, I’m delighted to be able to finally be able to type those three sacred and previously elusive words – Rolando is back! 3,735 days after we claimed the first entry in the series was ‘amongst the best games the App Store has to offer’, HandCircus have today announced Rolando: Royal Edition (), which serves as a complete remaster of the original title. This isn’t just a straight port, however – beyond a beautiful overhaul with the brilliant 2.5D aesthetic of the game’s sequel, as well as the expected graphical polish to seamlessly fit into the 2019 App Store, HandCircus have actually overhauled a lot of the levels, interactions and mechanics across the game. Whether you played the original back in 2008 or not, you’ll be able to experience the best version of an iconic App Store title when it launches on April 4th for $2.99.
Take one look at the teaser trailer and you can immediately get a feel for what the Rolando series is all about. Released at the very genesis of the App Store, the game takes what were all of the groundbreaking features of the iPhone – namely, a capacitive touch screen interface and an accelerometer – and uses them to great effect within a luscious puzzle environment. Everything just works so well, and it feels like the iOS game Nintendo never...