If you owned an iPhone in the 2010s, you almost certainly played a Nitrome game. The London studio spent years turning out some of the most inventive, hand-crafted little games on the App Store, with sharp pixel art, tight controls, a real sense of personality. You can tell a Nitrome game from a mile off, and we’ve been fans for yonks.
Now they’re remastering a run of those classics under a new banner: Nitrome Classics. Each one is rebuilt from the ground up with higher frame rates, full-screen aspect ratios and remastered audio, and are bundled with extra content the originals never had. They’re premium, one-and-done purchases – no ads, no pay-to-win, no nonsense. That’s refreshing in a world where unimaginative freemium slop rules the mobile gaming market.
There’s a nice symmetry to it, too. When we spoke to Nitrome’s Matthew Annal back in 2016, he admitted the studio felt boxed in by freemium, wishing the App Store left more room for premium games to survive. A decade on, it’s nice to see Nitrome Classics finally making this model work.
If the classics are received well, we could see Nitrome revitalizing all kinds of titles. For now, three are confirmed, the first of which will be releasing later this month. Read on for more details plus some other Nitrome recommendations that are already available…
Twin Shot Deluxe
The first classic out of the gate, Twin Shot Deluxe was (and still is, in fact) inspired by single-screen arcade classics like Bubble Bobble and Snow Bros. You’ll send a squad of winged cats into arena after arena armed only with bows and arrows – which, neatly, double as a way to scale the walls. Nitrome has folded both original Twin Shot games into one package and rebuilt everything by hand. There are 200+ levels across four worlds, including a brand-new Atlantis zone with 50 stages, fresh bosses, and unlockable hats that double as power-ups. It’s charming. This remastered version runs at 60fps now, up from the original’s 20, with up to four-player local co-op.
Silly Sausage
A cult favorite making its return – and a full trilogy this time instead of individual titles. You control the gaming world’s stretchiest dog, weaving and contorting through a surreal platformer using elastic controls, snapping back into shape the moment you let go. It’s a brilliantly tactile little puzzler, full of edible dreamscapes and some genuinely nasty meat-grinding hazards. No price or date announced for this one yet, but we’d expect it later this year with the same or similar pricing to Twin Shot Deluxe. Watch this oh-so-stretchy space.
Skywire
One of Nitrome’s earliest hits, and the one a lot of long-time fans have been waiting for. You take control of a cable car carrying passengers along a track, threading them safely through the levels of a theme park that’s spectacularly gone off the rails. It’s vintage Nitrome – a simple idea executed with real charm. Like Silly Sausage, price and release date are still to come.
Already on Apple Arcade: Super Leap Day
If you don’t want to wait, there’s a polished Nitrome fix you can play right now if you have Apple Arcade. Super Leap Day is bundled into your subscription with zero ads and zero in-app purchases. It’s a one-tap auto-runner with a fresh level every single day, plus wall-running, upgradable characters and mini-games layered on top.
Revisiting old favorites
Before you spend a penny, it’s worth visiting Nitrome’s developer page on the App Store. The studio has kept a stack of its older games live, and if you bought a few back in the day, they’ll be sitting in your purchase history ready to re-download for free. Until those lovely remasters are out, this is the next best thing.