Rocket League Sideswipe

Last updated
Rocket League Sideswipe
RL Sideswipe Coverart.png
Google Play Store cover art
Developer(s) Psyonix
Publisher(s) Epic Games
Platform(s) Android
iOS
Release
  • WW: November 29, 2021
Genre(s) Sports
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Rocket League Sideswipe is a free-to-play mobile vehicular soccer video game published by Psyonix. It serves as a spin-off of Rocket League , but with 2D computer graphics. An alpha version of the game was released in Oceania in March 2021 before the game was given a worldwide release in late November of the same year.

Contents

Gameplay

Sideswipe typically has the same type of gameplay as its console version, in which players must move their cars to hit the ball into the opponent's goal. If both teams are tied at the 0-second mark (at this point, the game won't end unless the ball hits the ground or a goal is scored), the game will enter a sudden death phase in which the first team to score wins. The game has multiple single-player and multiplayer modes, including game modes that revolve around sports other than soccer, such as basketball and volleyball.

The game has casual playlists and competitive (known as Ranked) playlists in which players are given a rank during the game's competitive "season". They will rank up a sub-division by winning and will rank down a sub-division by losing. The ranks, from highest to lowest are Grand Champion (in which players cannot demote out of), Champion, Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Unranked, which is when the player has never played the game before or on a new account. At the end of the season (which typically lasts 55 days), players will receive rewards based on whether they won a match in their peak rank or not. Players can also go up two sub-divisions in one match until they reach Platinum. Bronze and Silver have three sub-divisions per division, Gold and Platinum have four, and Diamond and Champion have five. Grand Champion does not use sub-divisions, instead using an "MMR" system that will record a player's place on the Grand Champion leaderboards.

The game is currently in its 15th ranked season, which started on April 22, 2024, and is scheduled to end on June 17, 2024. [1]

Development

In an interview with Pocket Gamer , Psyonix employees Bethany Leuenberger and Robert Garza explained the origins and development of the game, in which the latter says the founder of Psyonix, Dave Hagewood, realized there was a "market for a car soccer game on mobile", sparking the idea for Rocket League Sideswipe. Development started in April 2018 with a "very tiny" team working on the game. Three playtests were released, the third of which involved a Psyonix employee who was stated to be very good at the main game. Both Leuenberger and Garza were said to be "extremely" and "insanely" happy with the game's launch. [2] The game has been reported to have acquired 20 million downloads in the first forty days of its worldwide release. [3]

Reception

The game received "generally favorable" reviews from aggregator Metacritic. [11]

It was given a 9/10 by Destructoid , [5] and a 9/10 by GameSpot , [6] which the latter site characterizes as "superb". PCMag gave the game a 4.0 out of 5 for iOS, stating that the touch controls can be "occasionally frustrating" and describing the progression system as "annoying". [10]

Shawn Walton for Pocket Gamer rated the game 5 out of 5 stars, stating that a game is fast and hectic as Rocket League , and called it an "impressive" feat by the developers. [8] Giovanni Colantonio at Digital Trends stated that Sideswipe is "a perfect lazy day game". [12]

Sideswipe was the most downloaded mobile game in December 2021. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars</i> 2008 video game

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, colloquially known as SARPBC and officially abbreviated as SARP Battle-Cars, is a vehicular soccer video game for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in North America in October 2008, and in Europe in February 2009. The campaign mode of the game is made up of a series of varied mini-games, and tournaments against AI that can only be played in single-player mode. A sequel, titled Rocket League, was released in July 2015.

<i>Silent Hill: The Escape</i> 2007 video game

Silent Hill: The Escape is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by Konami Digital Entertainment and published by Konami for mobile phones.

<i>ARC Squadron</i> 2012 video game

ARC Squadron is a 2012 space combat video game developed and published by Psyonix Studios for iOS. It was released on the App Store on 1 November 2012. Like Psyonix's previous game, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, ARC Squadron runs on Unreal Engine 3. On 17 October 2013, ARC Squadron: Redux was released on iOS and Android, featuring improved graphics and performance as well as gameplay tweaks.

<i>Sonic Dash</i> 2013 video game

Sonic Dash is a 2013 endless runner mobile game developed by Hardlight and published by Japanese game studio Sega. It is Hardlight's second Sonic the Hedgehog game, the first being 2012's Sonic Jump. The game was released in March 2013 for iOS, November 2013 for Android, and December 2014 for Windows Phone and Windows, along with an arcade release in November 2015 as Sonic Dash Extreme. It was initially released as a paid application, but was made free-to-play a month after its iOS release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psyonix</span> American video game developer

Psyonix LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. It was founded in 2000 by Dave Hagewood with the team of his Internet-focused company WebSite Machines. After canceling its first two projects, Psyonix created VehicleMOD, a mod that adds vehicles to Unreal Tournament 2003. The game's developer, Epic Games, subsequently hired the studio to recreate this gameplay for a game mode in Unreal Tournament 2004. Psyonix subsisted off contract work and released its first original game, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, in 2008. The game was not as successful as anticipated but Hagewood held on to the game's concept and had a small team prototype a sequel while the rest of the company worked on further contract projects. This sequel was released as Rocket League in 2015 and became a commercial success. Epic Games acquired the studio in May 2019.

<i>Steven Universe: Attack the Light</i> Tactical role-playing video game

Steven Universe: Attack the Light is a role-playing video game developed by Grumpyface Studios and published by Cartoon Network Games. The game, based on the animated TV series Steven Universe and featuring a story written by series creator Rebecca Sugar, was released for iOS and Android mobile devices on April 2, 2015. An Apple TV/tvOS version was later developed, which added "Diamond Mode", a higher-difficulty version of the game with added bonuses. It was followed by Save the Light and Unleash the Light.

<i>Rocket League</i> 2015 video game

Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. Rocket League was available on Steam for Windows players and the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 players. In June 2016, 505 Games began distributing a physical retail version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment taking over those duties by the end of 2017. Versions for macOS and Linux were also released in 2016, but support for their online services was dropped in 2020. Epic Games acquired Psyonix in 2019 and made the game free-to-play in September 2020.

<i>Transformers: Devastation</i> 2015 video game

Transformers: Devastation is an action hack and slash video game based on the Transformers franchise developed by PlatinumGames and published by Activision. In the game, players control five Autobots as they battle to stop a Decepticon plot to turn the Earth to metal. Several creatives who worked on past Transformers media, including writers, actors, and musicians, contributed to the game's development.

<i>Pocket Mortys</i> Role-playing video game

Pocket Mortys, also known as Rick and Morty: Pocket Mortys, is a free-to-play role-playing video game developed by Big Pixel Studios, Tag Games and Pocket Sized Hands and published by Adult Swim Games. The game was released worldwide on January 13, 2016 for iOS and Android devices. The game is based on the television series Rick and Morty and the mechanics serve as a parody/remake of the Pokémon franchise, being updated each episode with new playable characters based on those from the wider franchise every year since. Two comic series adaptations, Pocket Mortys (2016) and Pocket Like You Stole It! (2017), written by Tini Howard, have been published by Oni Press.

<i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan</i> 2016 video game

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is an action hack and slash video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Activision. It is inspired by IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. It was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in May 2016. Less than eight months after its release, the game was removed from sale from all digital storefronts on January 3, 2017. This was the last Nickelodeon game to be published by Activision, with the rights for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game series being given to Dotemu.

<i>Old Mans Journey</i> 2017 video game

Old Man's Journey is an adventure video game developed and published by Broken Rules. The game was released for Android, iOS, macOS and Windows in 2017, the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2018 and the Xbox One in 2019.

<i>Sonic Runners Adventure</i> 2017 video game

Sonic Runners Adventure is an endless runner platform game published by Gameloft for iOS, Android and Java-based mobile phones. As part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game serves as a sequel to 2015's Sonic Runners. The game was first released in select regions in June 2017 and worldwide in August 2017.

<i>The Battle of Polytopia</i> 2016 4X strategy video game

The Battle of Polytopia is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed and published by Midjiwan AB. Players play as one of sixteen tribes to develop an empire and defeat opponents in a low poly square-shaped world. Players can play against bots or human opponents, local or online. The game was initially released in February 2016 and November 2016 in USA.

The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is an annual Rocket League esports tournament series produced by Blast ApS and endorsed by Psyonix, the game's developer. It consists of two online qualification splits in several regions, with teams earning points towards qualifying for midseason tournaments known as Majors and the Rocket League World Championship, both of which are held as LAN events worldwide.

Music of <i>Rocket League</i> Music from the vehicular soccer video game Rocket League

The music of Rocket League, a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix, is a compilation of electronic dance music (EDM) produced and curated by Psyonix audio director Mike Ault. It currently features music from 45 different artists, and has spawned a discography of four albums and four extended plays. The original soundtrack was produced by Ault and his band Hollywood Principle. Ault, having experimented with different genres, used personal projects unrelated to Rocket League as a base for the soundtrack. What followed was an EDM soundtrack inspired by early-to-mid 2000s progressive house music that Ault and Psyonix felt "embodied the spirit of the game." When in-game, the music is controlled using the playlist system "Rocket League Radio". Positive feedback from players, in addition to Ault's vision of a "big budget" playlist sound emulating Triple-A sports games such as the EA Sports titles, inspired him and the team to feature independent artists to be included in Rocket League's soundtrack. Ault credits the success of the soundtrack to the appeal of the EDM genre to the game's player base. In 2017, Canadian EDM label Monstercat partnered with Psyonix and began to feature its artists, and their music, in Rocket League, with multiple volumes featuring the music being released by the label.

<i>Reigns: Game of Thrones</i> 2018 strategy video game

Reigns: Game of Thrones is a 2018 strategy game developed by Nerial and published by Devolver Digital. The third instalment in and a spin-off from the Reigns series, it is based on the television series Game of Thrones. Reigns: Game of Thrones was released in October 2018 for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. A version for Nintendo Switch was released in April 2019.

<i>World of Demons</i> 2021 video game

World of Demons was a 2021 hack and slash video game developed by PlatinumGames. The player plays as a samurai who controls yōkai to fight against oni. The game was released on April 2, 2021 through Apple Arcade. On January 5, 2024, PlatinumGames announced the game would end service and be removed on January 18, 2024

<i>League of Legends: Wild Rift</i> Multiplayer online battle arena video game

League of Legends: Wild Rift is a multiplayer online battle arena mobile game developed and published by Riot Games for Android and iOS. The free-to-play game is a modified version of the PC game League of Legends.

<i>Pocket Card Jockey</i> 2013 video game

Pocket Card Jockey is a card-based video game developed and published by Game Freak for Nintendo 3DS, iOS, and Android.

<i>Mighty Doom</i> 2023 video game

Mighty Doom is a 2023 top-down shooter game developed by Alpha Dog Games and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is part of the Doom franchise and focuses on playing the Slayer character to progress through various levels in a roguelite play style. The player comes across varying challenges, such as monsters and environmental dangers. The game follows a different visual approach compared to the mainline Doom games, as it features a more colorful and cartoonish design.

References

  1. ↑ "Become a Triple Threat in Rocket League Sideswipe Season 15!".
  2. ↑ Orr, Aaron (2021-12-21). "How Rocket League Sideswipe hit the back of the net". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  3. ↑ Orr, Aaron (2022-01-19). "Rocket League Sideswipe swiped 20 million downloads in 40 days". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  4. ↑ "Rocket League Sideswipe critic reviews". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  5. 1 2 Andriessen, CJ (2021-12-11). "Review: Rocket League Sideswipe". Destructoid. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  6. 1 2 Hornshaw, Phil (2022-01-13). "Rocket League Sideswipe Review — Pocket Rocket". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  7. ↑ "Test du jeu Rocket League Sideswipe". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  8. 1 2 Walton, Shaun (2022-10-20). "Rocket League Sideswipe review - "Fantastic vehicular football in the palm of your hand"". ee.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  9. ↑ Hegevall, Petter (2021-12-04). "Rocket League Sideswipe Review". Gamereactor UK. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  10. 1 2 Minor, Jordan (2021-12-21). "Rocket League Sideswipe (for iOS) Review". PCMAG. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  11. ↑ "Rocket League Sideswipe". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  12. ↑ "Rocket League Sideswipe is My New Mobile Gaming Obsession". Digital Trends. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  13. ↑ Orr, Aaron (January 19, 2022). "Rocket League Sideswipe swiped 20 million downloads in 40 days". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved February 8, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.